**We can disagree and still be friends.**
I build bridges and tools for others to use.
I maintain and improve a lot of legacy code, monoliths, services.
I spend my free dev-time on FOSS packages.
It is called an "object handle", technically. One can inspect the handle of an object by calling spl_object_id.
The handle is a form of a pointer. Different from those in C, where pointers are memory addresses. In PHP they are implemented as "counted references".
"Objects are passed by reference by default" is a simplification hiding the actual implementation complexities. The "object handles" are very similar in behaviour to regular references to values. Read more in Objects and references.
Thanks, I didn't know about spl_object_id() (it's actually more straightforward than using var_dump() as I suggested), I added it below the var_dump example.
The "Objects and references" page from the doc is what prompted me to write this article because I found it a little obtuse for a junior dev, and it didn't provide examples of situations where the "objects are passed by reference" simplification doesn't cut it.
And thanks for the "counted references" article, I just fell into a new rabbit hole :-p
**We can disagree and still be friends.**
I build bridges and tools for others to use.
I maintain and improve a lot of legacy code, monoliths, services.
I spend my free dev-time on FOSS packages.
It's a bit complex, but simply by understanding the concept of counted references, one can get a hint on how garbage collectors work and also understand the meaning behind WeakMap and WeakReference.
The concept is also used in ther languages that use garbage collection.
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It is called an "object handle", technically. One can inspect the handle of an object by calling
spl_object_id.The handle is a form of a pointer. Different from those in C, where pointers are memory addresses. In PHP they are implemented as "counted references".
"Objects are passed by reference by default" is a simplification hiding the actual implementation complexities. The "object handles" are very similar in behaviour to regular references to values. Read more in Objects and references.
Thanks, I didn't know about
spl_object_id()(it's actually more straightforward than usingvar_dump()as I suggested), I added it below the var_dump example.The "Objects and references" page from the doc is what prompted me to write this article because I found it a little obtuse for a junior dev, and it didn't provide examples of situations where the "objects are passed by reference" simplification doesn't cut it.
And thanks for the "counted references" article, I just fell into a new rabbit hole :-p
It's a bit complex, but simply by understanding the concept of counted references, one can get a hint on how garbage collectors work and also understand the meaning behind WeakMap and WeakReference.
The concept is also used in ther languages that use garbage collection.