Re: Package proposal: Mail_Mime (alternative)

> > > Pass by reference is slower in PHP4. PHP4 has reference counting > > > which prevent copies from being made if the variable is not actually > > > modified. > > the point is that in the second line you don't actually make a copy yet. > Only once you change the value a new var is really created > > the same applies to passing values to a function. > Because if this mechanism pass by reference is actually slower than not > using it. Therefore pass by reference should only be used if you really > need it. Does the manual contain this information? If so, it must be well hidden... But if one know for sure, that the variable one passes to a function is modified or if the variable contains whole email with attachments (60KB) is it not faster to parse by reference than by value? If so, how large must a variables be before one actually gains an advantage?