note 109048 added to language.references.pass

One thing I reckon is simple but pretty cool is that if you take a reference from a reference, they both point to the same thing original variable (as you would hopefully expect). This means you can pass in a variable (by reference), and then make a reference from that, you can make changes to the original variable later. <?php class DelayedChange { private $changeTarget; public function prepareForChange(&$target) { // Save a reference to the variable we want to change $this->changeTarget = &$target; } public function change($value) { // Assign a new value $this->changeTarget = $value; } } $testVar = "value 1"; $delayedChange = new DelayedChange(); $delayedChange->prepareForChange($testVar); echo ($testVar."<br>\n"); // outputs "value 1" $delayedChange->change("value 2"); echo ($testVar."<br>\n"); // outputs "value 2" ?> (naturally, this only works if you make $changeTarget a reference - if you just write "$this->changeTarget = $target" then it copies $testVar's value instead of taking a new reference to it.) ---- Server IP: 69.147.83.197 Probable Submitter: 195.166.29.2 ---- Manual Page -- http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.references.pass.php Edit -- https://master.php.net/note/edit/109048 Del: integrated -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/109048/integrated Del: useless -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/109048/useless Del: bad code -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/109048/bad+code Del: spam -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/109048/spam Del: non-english -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/109048/non-english Del: in docs -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/109048/in+docs Del: other reasons-- https://master.php.net/note/delete/109048 Reject -- https://master.php.net/note/reject/109048 Search -- https://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php