Thread:Extension talk:ParserFunctions/$wgPFEnableStringFunctions/reply (4)

I think for maintenance reasons alone it would be a good idea to keep them separated. All the other reasons you mentioned are additional good reasons. Given the pressure to include string functions in Wikipedia, it seems plausible that adding StringFunctions to ParserFunctions was an end-run attempt to get it enabled on Wikipedia, especially now that ParserFunctions and a few other extensions are now bundled with MediaWiki 1.18+. There is a lot of resistance for MediaWiki markup becoming a programming language, but it seems to be happening on its own, and I have been very pleased with the capabilities. Since it has happened naturally, without anyone planning it - and with a lot of resistance - it seems inevitable now that MediaWiki markup is becoming an important scripting/programming language. I know it gets a lot done for me!