2007/3/10, Dave Goodchild <buddhamagnet@xxxxxxxxx>:
Hi guys, I have just read 'Programming PHP' (O'Reilly) and although I think it's a great book, I am confused about variable variables and references - not the mechanics, just where you would use them. The subject of variable variables is explained but no examples are given as to why and where you would utilise them.
There really aren't useful and you're well without knowing they even exist. In my opinion they harm code readibility, so they shouldn't be used, especially if what you're trying to do can be achieved in some other way. There is a special case where I found them useful. If you play competitions like the sort of codegolf, they can be used to reduce your code by a few characters by doing some really nasty things. As for references, the examples given with regard to passing and returning
by reference in functions is clear, but no real examples are given as to when this would be a preferred approcah - in fact, the authors stress that due to PHP's copy-on-write mechanism, it is not a frequently-used approcah.
References are useful to simulate PHP5 objects behaviour in PHP4. They can be useful in many ways but I've found myself having too many troubles when overusing them, segfaults and the sort... So my question - are there any 'classic' situations in which either should
be used, and where and when do you guys use them in your real-world efforts? -- http://www.web-buddha.co.uk
