Bug #80955 [Opn->Nab]: References to elements in an array has side-affects to original array

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=80955&edit=1 ID: 80955 Updated by: imsop@php.net Reported by: yahya12 at outlook dot com Summary: References to elements in an array has side-affects to original array -Status: Open +Status: Not a bug Type: Bug Package: Scripting Engine problem Operating System: Any PHP Version: 8.0.3 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: Thank you for taking the time to write to us, but this is not a bug. Please double-check the documentation available at http://www.php.net/manual/ and the instructions on how to report a bug at http://bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php This is documented on https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.references.whatdo.php See the paragraph starting with "Note, however, that references inside arrays are potentially dangerous..." Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2021-04-15 12:36:29] yahya12 at outlook dot com Description: ------------ There is a bug in PHP where the below code returns an unexpected value. It looks like making references to an array or elements has side-effects to the original array. This is an issue that has been reported many times around 20 years ago, but reported as "won't fix" (I believe due to performance issues). - https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=20993 - https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=6417 - https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=7412 - https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=15025 I'm unsure if this issue has been raised recently, but would like to see if this major bug will finally be fixed. Also, can we at least have this documented in the official PHP docs. Currently I can only find this mentioned in comments: - https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.references.php#79220 - https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.references.whatdo.php#102123 - https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.references.php#79220 Test script: --------------- $a = [['name' => 'John']]; $unusedVariable = &$a[0]; // seems to modify $a[0], so its type &array $b = $a; $b[0]['name'] = "Bob"; echo $a[0]['name]; Expected result: ---------------- John Actual result: -------------- Bob ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=80955&edit=1