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Date: Sun, 09 Oct 2005 13:46:32 +0200
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Subject: Re: AW: [PHP-DEV] return /* by reference */ new Foo() in PHP4
From: oliver.graetz@arcor.de (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Oliver_Gr=E4tz?=)

Matthias Pigulla schrieb:
>>>So, in case of "return new", wouldn't it make sense to remove the 
>>>warning as the code is 'legal'? And please, don't start a new "it's 
>>>just a friendly notice" flame war.
>>
>>     It's just a notice, tune your error_reporting level accordingly.
> 
> 
> Sorry, but that is just a stupid killer argument. I thought I had
> written something like "please, don't start a new *it's just a friendly
> notice* flame war". 

Jep, that would be a valid argument if one could not just adjust
error_reporting level but also the "error_throwing" behaviour. Some
people want to get notices, they just don't want to get THIS notice. So if

  [throw_levels]
  only_variables_can_be_returned_by_reference
   = create_temp_and_shut_up_like_other_languages

could be configured this would be a valid argument ;-)
Other languages can pass objects by reference, not only variables.
And in the (conceptionally) most advanced languages like Ruby even
returning a 3 means returning an object.

A function defined as returning by reference should always quietly
create anonymous containers if the code returns non-variable-stored
values. This most prominently happens with

  return new Classname();

And I personally also believe that

  function &huba() { return 3; }

should implicitly be interpreted by PHP as

  $internal_variable_with_random_or_no_name=3
  return &$internal_variable_with_random_or_no_name;

The name doesn't matter as the caller doesn't want to know it.

> May I conclude that what you really want to say is:
> 
> "Yes, return /*byref*/ new Foo() _is_ bad code _unless_ inside Foo's
> constructor, $this is passed around and somebody somewhere stores yet

This somebody should be PHP.

> another reference to it. Accept that you wrote broken code: return new
> Foo() is wrong, it needs to be return $tmp =& new Foo()."
> 
> Shaking his head,
> Matthias

I second that. Let's go to the disco ;-)


OLLi


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