Doc #76311 [->Ver]: __construct/destruct/clone do not have return types

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=76311&edit=1 ID: 76311 Updated by: requinix@php.net Reported by: Andy_Schmidt at HM-Software dot com Summary: __construct/destruct/clone do not have return types -Status: Verifiedo +Status: Verified Type: Documentation Problem Package: Class/Object related PHP Version: 7.2.5 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: https://www.google.com/search?q=why+dont+constructors+have+return+types This isn't about method signatures. This is about what constructors, destructors, and cloning represent. The fact that PHP allows you to specify their behavior using a syntax that resembles that of normal methods is besides the point. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2018-05-08 17:05:14] Andy_Schmidt at HM-Software dot com I understand that some methods had always implicitly disallowed return values before there had been a syntax to do so explicitly. The hard syntax error certainly was proper before 7.1. However, this is 2018. Why would we still force occasional PHP users from having to memorize the signature for each and every magic method? Now that "void" is a type hint, it seems that an author writing self-documenting code (for the benefit of less-versed coworkers) should not be penalized with run-time errors for explicitly defining VOID? I respectfully suggest that with 7.1 and higher, the message category "... cannot declare a return type" should simply recognize the now-available type "void" as being a perfectly expression of the implicit rule! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2018-05-08 16:49:06] requinix@php.net Related To: Bug #76312 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2018-05-08 16:47:16] requinix@php.net True, but __wakeup allows for a void return type. Which I don't mind because its counterpart __sleep does have a return type. To me it's more the fact that __construct/destruct are particularly special methods and explicitly disallow return types. __clone too, now that I look at the list. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2018-05-08 16:39:53] cmb@php.net > Constructors and destructors do not have the concept of a return > type. The same is true for some of the other magic methods (e.g. __wakeup()). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2018-05-08 15:50:26] requinix@php.net Constructors and destructors do not have the concept of a return type. The docs showing anything at all, even void, is incorrect. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The remainder of the comments for this report are too long. To view the rest of the comments, please view the bug report online at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=76311 -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=76311&edit=1