Req #62778 [Opn->Fbk]: pre-increment operator produces rvalue rather than lvalue

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=62778&edit=1 ID: 62778 Updated by: nikic@php.net Reported by: dexen dot devries at gmail dot com Summary: pre-increment operator produces rvalue rather than lvalue -Status: Open +Status: Feedback Type: Feature/Change Request Package: Variables related PHP Version: 5.4.6RC1 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: Is there any motivation for allowing this? PHP is pretty consistent about not returning references from assignment-like operations -- the only one that does so is the proper by-reference assignment (=&). I don't see any reason why we would want to change this. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2012-08-08 11:50:17] dexen dot devries at gmail dot com Description: ------------ Result of pre-increment (also pre-decrement) operator is a value (rvalue') rather than a reference to variable (lvalue'). This prevents assigning result of the operator to reference, or passing it by reference. There is no apparent reason for such limitation; the operator only applies to variables (never to other expressions), and PHP core supports references. The requested behavior is similar to C++ (result of pre-increment operator is reference); the current behavior mimics C (result of pre-increment operator is an rvalue). Test script: --------------- $a = 0; $b = 0; $c = 0; function foo(&$v) { $v = $v + 1; } ++$a; foo($a); var_dump($a); foo(++$b); var_dump($b); $b =& ++$c; var_dump($c); Expected result: ---------------- $a === 2 $b === 2 $c === 1 Actual result: -------------- $a === 2 Strict Standards: Only variables should be passed by reference $b === 1 PHP Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '++' (T_INC) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=62778&edit=1