Here’s a simple example of what this will look like:

<br /> $object_instance = new My\PEAR\Module(’myvar’);<br />

PHP 5 already already has its criticisms. The developers looked at many different options, including **, ^^, %%, :>, :) and :::, but eventually decided on \, which is an odd decision, given that it doesn’t remotely resemble its cousins. In fact, it most closely resembles directories in MS-DOS or other Windows features.

The argument was also made that current operators such as :: or -> could have been used, but they already had other duties. The argument doesn’t go far, however, because PHP of course uses the backslash character for escaping.