php函数返回引用

Returning References

    Returning by reference is useful when you want to use a function    to find to which variable a reference should be bound. Do    not use return-by-reference to increase performance.    The engine will automatically optimize this on its own. Only return    references when you have a valid technical reason to do so. To    return references, use this syntax:   

<?php
class foo {
    public $value = 42;

    public function &getValue() {
        return $this->value;
    }
}

$obj = new foo;
$myValue = &$obj->getValue(); // $myValue is a reference to $obj->value, which is 42.
$obj->value = 2;
echo $myValue;                // prints the new value of $obj->value, i.e. 2.
?>

    In this example, the property of the object returned by the    getValue function would be set, not the    copy, as it would be without using reference syntax.  

Note:          Unlike parameter passing, here you have to use     & in both places - to indicate that you     want to return by reference, not a copy, and to indicate that     reference binding, rather than usual assignment, should be done     for $myValue.   

Note:          If you try to return a reference from a function with the syntax:     return ($this->value); this will not     work as you are attempting to return the result of an     expression, and not a variable, by reference. You can     only return variables by reference from a function - nothing else.     Since PHP 4.4.0 in the PHP 4 branch, and PHP 5.1.0 in the PHP 5 branch, an     E_NOTICE error is issued if the code tries to return     a dynamic expression or a result of the new operator.   

   To use the returned reference, you must use reference assigment:   

<?php
function &collector() {
  static $collection = array();
  return $collection;
}
$collection = &collector();
$collection[] = 'foo';
?>

   To pass the returned reference to another function expecting a reference   you can use this syntax:   

<?php
function &collector() {
  static $collection = array();
  return $collection;
}
array_push(collector(), 'foo');
?>

Note:           Note that array_push(&collector(), 'foo'); will      not work, it results in a fatal error.