PHP 4.0 Bug #7598: modify "new" syntax

From: danjrod@terra.es Operating system: All PHP version: 4.0.3pl1 PHP Bug Type: Feature/Change Request Bug description: modify "new" syntax Assigning the value returned by "new xxxx()" to a variable creates a copy of the constructed object. "new" does not support returning references by default, or prepending an ampersand, '&', to have a reference returned. Thus the request is: - Modify new syntax to either: a) It always returns a reference. This is unlikely to break any existing code. At most people will be creating a reference to a reference, which won´t harm b) Support the '&' syntax like in "&new xxx", so that a reference can be asked for. This will not break any existing code. This only implies slightly modifying "zend-parser.y", and no further changes to any part of the zend engine. This change will cure the use of "$this" as a reference inside the object constructor, which has been wrongly dismissed as a "circular reference problem". Regards Daniel -- Edit Bug report at: http://bugs.php.net/?id=7598&edit=1