--- /dev/null
+Revamped object model using object handles
+===========================================
+
+Background
+----------
+
+In the Zend Engine 1.0 (and its predecessor the PHP 3 scripting engine) the object model's design is that instantiated
+objects are language values. This means that when programmers are performing operations, such variable assignment and
+passing parameters to functions, objects are handled very similarly to the way other primitive types are handled such
+as integers and strings. Semantically this means that the whole object is being copied. The approach Java takes is
+different where one refers to objects by handle and not by value (one can think of a handle as an objects' ID).
+
+Need
+----
+
+Unfortunately, the approach taken up to now has severely limited the Zend Engine's object oriented model, both feature
+and simplicity wise. One of the main problems with the former approach is that object instantiation and duplication is
+very hard to control, a problem which can not only lead to inefficient development but also often to strange run-time
+behavior. Changing the object model to a handle oriented model will allow the addressing of many needs such as
+destructors, de-referencing method return values, tight control of object duplication and more.
+
+Overview
+--------
+
+The proposed object model is very much influenced by the Java model. In general, when you create a new object you will
+be getting a handle to the object instead of the object itself. When this handle is sent to functions, assigned and
+copied it is only the handle which is copied/sent/assigned. The object itself is never copied nor duplicated. This
+results in all handles of this object to always point at the same object making it a very consistent solution and
+saving unnecessary duplication and confusing behavior.
+
+Functionality
+-------------
+
+After this change the basic use of objects will be almost identical to previous versions of the scripting engine.
+However, you won't bump into awkward and confusing copying & destructing of objects.
+In order to create and use a new object instance you will do the following:
+$object = new MyClass();
+$object->method();
+
+The previous code will assign $object the handle of a new instance of the class MyClass and call one of its methods.
+
+
+Consider the following code:
+
+1 class MyClass
+2 {
+3 function setMember($value)
+4 {
+5 $this->member = $value;
+6 }
+7
+8 function getMember()
+9 {
+10 return $this->member;
+11 }
+12 }
+13
+14 function foo($obj)
+15 {
+16 $obj->setMember("foo");
+17 }
+18
+19 $object = new MyClass();
+20 $object->setMember("bar");
+21 foo($object);
+22 print $object->getMember();
+
+Without the new Java-like handles, at line 20 the objects' data member member is set to the string value of "bar".
+Because of the internal representation of objects in the Zend Engine 1.0, the object is marked as a reference, and when
+it is sent by value to the function foo, it is duplicated (!). Therefore, the call to foo() on line 21 will result in
+the $obj->setMember("foo") call being called on a duplicate of $object. Line 22 will then result in "bar" being
+printed.
+
+This is how the scripting engine has worked until today. Most developers are probably unaware of the fact that they
+aren't always talking to the same object but often duplicates; others may have realized this can usually be solved by
+always passing objects by reference (unless a replica is actually desired, which is uncommon).
+
+The new object model will allow for a much more intuitive implementation of the code. On line 21, the object's handle
+(ID) is passed to foo() by value. Inside foo(), the object is fetched according to this handle and, therefore, the
+setMember() method is called on the originally instantiated object and not a copy. Line 22 will therefore result in
+"foo" being printed. This approach gives developers tighter control of when objects are created and duplicated. An
+additional not-as-important benefit is that the object handle will be passed to foo() by value, which most probably
+will also save unnecessary duplication of the value containing the ID itself and thus additionally improving run-time
+performance.
+
+This was just a simple description of why the new object model solves awkward behavior and makes object handling much
+easier, intuitive and efficient. The importance of this change goes far beyond what is mentioned in this section as
+you will see in further sections which describe new features with a majority of them being based on this change.
+
+Compatibility Notes
+--------------------
+
+Many PHP programmers aren't even aware of the copying quirks of the current object model and, therefore, there is a
+relatively good chance that the amount of PHP applications that will work out of the box or after a very small amount
+of modifications would be high.
+
+To simplify migration, version 2.0 will support an optional 'auto-clone' feature, which will perform a cloning of the
+object whenever it would have been copied in version 1.0. Optionally, it will also be possible to request that the
+engine will emit an E_NOTICE message whenever such an automatic clone occurs, in order to allow developers to gradually
+migrate to the version 2.0-style behavior (without automatic clones).
+
+Dependencies
+------------
+
+The new object model is not dependent on other features. Many of the other Zend Engine 2.0 features, such as the
+$foo->bar()->barbara() syntax, destructors and others completely rely on this new object model.
+