@dragnucs # 6 was a project to move the language from where it was in the 4.x and early 5.x days in one big jump, mandating # and making # the default. Some complained that the proposal turned PHP into #, and that it would chase away the less-skilled people that helped make PHP the most widespread language for the web. So beginning with 5.4, some of those changes are gradually being added, while others are indefinitely delayed.