Re: [IDEA for RF C] let the "new" operator fail when the __construct( ) function returns a value.

Hi Mirco, Am 17. Februar 2026 07:59:43 MEZ schrieb Mirco Babin <mirco.babin@gmail.com>: >>Hi Mirco, and welcome! >> >>I agree that allowing constructors to return a value leads to confusion, >>and would support deprecating and then forbidding this. >> >>However, I agree with others that this should be checked when compiling >>the constructor, not when running it under the "new" operator. In other >>words, make any method named "__construct" give >the same error as a >>function or method marked ": void". > >Hello Rowan Tommins, > >I disagree with the compiling part. The __construct() function can >currently not have a return type, so the return type is implicitly >"mixed". Changing that would be a BC break for those calling the >__construct() function as a regular function. > >As written to Tim Düsterhus: I have prepared a RFC at >https://gist.github.com/MircoBabin/aaa574297c8d1baa879f19c99ce28e93 I'm with Roman here as well. Yes, it's a BC break, but as Roman suggested, there would be a deprecation phase before and forbidden only in PHP 9. This should give enough time to adopt. Also, you are talking about the constructor only, which is ok, but I believe the destructor needs to be discussed as well and mentioned in the RFC. > >Kind regards, >Mirco Babin Regards, Marc