# Returning references and such

- Thread: https://externals.io/message/2269
- Original archive: https://news-web.php.net/php.internals/2269
- Started by Andrei Zmievski on 2003-06-10T13:20:14+00:00
- Messages: 1
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## #2269 — Andrei Zmievski — 2003-06-10T13:20:14+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/2269#2269

Can someone explain to me why ZE always resets the is_ref and refcount
fields of a function's return_value to 0 and 1 respectively? This means
that we cannot return references or refcounted values at all, and that
we can do things in userland PHP that we cannot do in C code.

-Andrei
* On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape key. *