When is eval evil in php?

Question

In all the years I have been developing in PHP, I have always heard that using eval() is evil.

Considering the following code, wouldn't it make sense to use the second (and more elegant) option? If not, why?

// $type is the result of an SQL statement, e.g.
// SHOW COLUMNS FROM a_table LIKE 'a_column';
// hence you can be pretty sure about the consistency
// of your string.

$type = "enum('a','b','c')";

// option one
$type_1 = preg_replace('#^enums*(s*'|'s*)s*$#', '', $type);
$result = preg_split('#'s*,s*'#', $type_1);

// option two
eval('$result = '.preg_replace('#^enum#','array', $type).';');

Answer 1

I would be cautious in calling eval() pure evil. Dynamic evaluation is a powerful tool and can sometimes be a life saver. With eval() one can work around shortcomings of PHP (see below).

The main problems with eval() are:

• Potential unsafe input. Passing an untrusted parameter is a way to fail. It is often not a trivial task to make sure that a parameter (or part of it) is fully trusted.
• Trickiness. Using eval() makes code clever, therefore more difficult to follow. To quote Brian Kernighan "Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it"

The main problem with actual use of eval() is only one:

• Inexperienced developers who use it without enough consideration.

As a rule of thumb I tend to follow this:

1. Sometimes eval() is the only/the right solution.
2. For most cases one should try something else.
3. If unsure, goto 2.
4. Else, be very, very careful.