How do references work in PHP?

How do references work in PHP?

Most discussions of references in PHP begin with an opener like “references are

confusing,” which may add to the myth that surrounds them. In fact, references

are a very simple concept to grasp, yet they're a concept that self-taught PHP

developers only really need to consider once they begin writing object oriented

applications. Until then, you're probably oblivious to the way PHP handles

variables behind the scenes. Much of the confusion that exists around references

has more to do with developers who are experienced with other languages like

C++ or Java trying to work with PHP: Java, in particular, handles object references

in almost the opposite way to the approach PHP takes in version 4.

References vs. Pointers

Developers who are familiar with compiled languages such as C++ or Java

should note that references in PHP are not analogous to pointers in other

languages.

A pointer contains an address in memory that points to a variable, and must

be dereferenced in order to retrieve the variable's contents.

3Enforced privacy constraints on class members will be added in PHP 5.0.

How do references work in PHP?

In PHP, all variable names are linked with values in memory automatically.

Using a reference allows us to link two variable names to the same value in

memory, as if the variable names were the same. You can then substitute

one for the other