> I was wondering when Joomla is going to advance to require PHP 5.3 only
> and if that can also include adding namespaces.

> For example, all core code could be namespaced as Joomla\Platform
> All cms code could be namespaced as Joomla\CMS

> For backwards/forwards compatibility, aliases should be used:
> use Joomla\Platform as J;
> use Joomla\CMS as J\C;

> So, for example:
> $controller = JController::getInstance('Content');

> Would become:
> use Joomla\Platform as J;
> $controller = J\JController::getInstance('Content');

> Then for compatibility, some simple find/replaces on namespaced calls are
> all that is needed:
> libraries/compat/joomla/v12.4
> Change their namespace declarations:
> namespace Joomla\Platform;
> use Joomla\Platform as J;
> becomes
> namespace Joomla\Platform\12.4;
> use Joomla\Platform as J;

> Now if an app for the CMS needs the 12.4 Controller model, it can use
> either:
> use Joomla\Platform\v12.4 as J;
> or it could use
> use Joomla\Platform\v12.4\JController as JController;  

> Just the JController for 12.4 is used, all other classes will come from
> the current platform code even in JController since it always calls them as
> J\JLog

> Better yet, if there is a small subset of classes which someone might need
> for compatibility issues,
> only those can be stuck in libraries/compat/joomla/v12.4
> For example, if ONLY the MVC classes are needed, then stick only their
> files in the compat folder.  A find/replace on those files for
> J\JController, J\JModel, and J\JView to make them become JController,
> JModel, JView [and hence local classes]

> So, things like
> public function authorize($task)
> {
> // Deprecation warning.
> J\JLog::add('JController::authorize() is deprecated.', JLog::WARNING,
> 'deprecated');

> $this->authorise($task);
> }

> Will call the default Joomla\Platform namespace wheras
> protected function createModel($name, $prefix = '', $config = array())
> {
> // Clean the model name
> $modelName = preg_replace('/[^A-Z0-9_]/i', '', $name);
> $classPrefix = preg_replace('/[^A-Z0-9_]/i', '', $prefix);

> $result = JModel::getInstance($modelName, $classPrefix, $config);

> return $result;
> }

> Since the find/replace updated J\JModel to JModel it will be from the
> local space.

> It is also great in that it allows both forwards and backwards
> compatibility.   Hypothetical:
> Joomla CMS v5 is running on Joomla Platform v15.3
> A lot of legacy extensions are still using the MVC framework of Joomla
> Platform 14.4
> A lot of useful MVC features are in Joomla Platform 16.1

> By containing directories with the MVC framework under namespaces
> Joomla\Platform\v14.4
> and
> Joomla\Platform\v16.1

> Legacy extensions may just need to change one line of code:
> use Joomla\Platform as J;  
> to
> use Joomla\Platform\v14.4 as J;

> And completely new extensions could be forward looking and use the new
> models with
> use Joomla\Platform\v16.1 as J;

> Alternatively, going by the PHP Framework Interoperability Group standards:
> https://github.com/php-fig/fig-standards/blob/master/accepted/PSR-0.md

> It can be somewhat cleaner to say that the Joomla Framework is part of the
> global application space and only apply namespaces for compatability.

> IE JController remains in the global namespace
> For MVC compatibility:
> Joomla\Platform\v14.4\JController
> Update all calls to classes starting with J to be \J, ie JLog becomes \JLog
> Update all calls to MVC classes to remove the slash, so \JModel becomes
> JModel

> This is somewhat more work for the compatibility libraries, but then it's
> also somewhat proper to make someone needing a different version of Joomla
> core libraries do the work and keep things simple for the core code.

> I was wondering when Joomla is going to advance to require PHP 5.3 only
> and if that can also include adding namespaces.

> For example, all core code could be namespaced as Joomla\Platform
> All cms code could be namespaced as Joomla\CMS

> For backwards/forwards compatibility, aliases should be used:
> use Joomla\Platform as J;
> use Joomla\CMS as J\C;

> So, for example:
> $controller = JController::getInstance('Content');

> Would become:
> use Joomla\Platform as J;
> $controller = J\JController::getInstance('Content');

> Then for compatibility, some simple find/replaces on namespaced calls are
> all that is needed:
> libraries/compat/joomla/v12.4
> Change their namespace declarations:
> namespace Joomla\Platform;
> use Joomla\Platform as J;
> becomes
> namespace Joomla\Platform\12.4;
> use Joomla\Platform as J;

> Now if an app for the CMS needs the 12.4 Controller model, it can use
> either:
> use Joomla\Platform\v12.4 as J;
> or it could use
> use Joomla\Platform\v12.4\JController as JController;  

> Just the JController for 12.4 is used, all other classes will come from
> the current platform code even in JController since it always calls them as
> J\JLog

> Better yet, if there is a small subset of classes which someone might need
> for compatibility issues,
> only those can be stuck in libraries/compat/joomla/v12.4
> For example, if ONLY the MVC classes are needed, then stick only their
> files in the compat folder.  A find/replace on those files for
> J\JController, J\JModel, and J\JView to make them become JController,
> JModel, JView [and hence local classes]

> So, things like
> public function authorize($task)
> {
> // Deprecation warning.
> J\JLog::add('JController::authorize() is deprecated.', JLog::WARNING,
> 'deprecated');

> $this->authorise($task);
> }

> Will call the default Joomla\Platform namespace wheras
> protected function createModel($name, $prefix = '', $config = array())
> {
> // Clean the model name
> $modelName = preg_replace('/[^A-Z0-9_]/i', '', $name);
> $classPrefix = preg_replace('/[^A-Z0-9_]/i', '', $prefix);

> $result = JModel::getInstance($modelName, $classPrefix, $config);

> return $result;
> }

> Since the find/replace updated J\JModel to JModel it will be from the
> local space.

> It is also great in that it allows both forwards and backwards
> compatibility.   Hypothetical:
> Joomla CMS v5 is running on Joomla Platform v15.3
> A lot of legacy extensions are still using the MVC framework of Joomla
> Platform 14.4
> A lot of useful MVC features are in Joomla Platform 16.1

> By containing directories with the MVC framework under namespaces
> Joomla\Platform\v14.4
> and
> Joomla\Platform\v16.1

> Legacy extensions may just need to change one line of code:
> use Joomla\Platform as J;  
> to
> use Joomla\Platform\v14.4 as J;

> And completely new extensions could be forward looking and use the new
> models with
> use Joomla\Platform\v16.1 as J;

> Alternatively, going by the PHP Framework Interoperability Group standards:
> https://github.com/php-fig/fig-standards/blob/master/accepted/PSR-0.md

> It can be somewhat cleaner to say that the Joomla Framework is part of the
> global application space and only apply namespaces for compatability.

> IE JController remains in the global namespace
> For MVC compatibility:
> Joomla\Platform\v14.4\JController
> Update all calls to classes starting with J to be \J, ie JLog becomes \JLog
> Update all calls to MVC classes to remove the slash, so \JModel becomes
> JModel

> This is somewhat more work for the compatibility libraries, but then it's
> also somewhat proper to make someone needing a different version of Joomla
> core libraries do the work and keep things simple for the core code.