In PHP, by default, objects are passed as reference to a new object.
See this example:
class X {
var $abc = 10;
}
class Y {
var $abc = 20;
function changeValue($obj)
{
$obj->abc = 30;
}
}
$x = new X();
$y = new Y();
echo $x->abc; //outputs 10
$y->changeValue($x);
echo $x->abc; //outputs 30
Now see this:
class X {
var $abc = 10;
}
class Y {
var $abc = 20;
function changeValue($obj)
{
$obj = new Y();
}
}
$x = new X();
$y = new Y();
echo $x->abc; //outputs 10
$y->changeValue($x);
echo $x->abc; //outputs 10 not 20 same as java does.
Now see this:
class X {
var $abc = 10;
}
class Y {
var $abc = 20;
function changeValue(&$obj)
{
$obj = new Y();
}
}
$x = new X();
$y = new Y();
echo $x->abc; //outputs 10
$y->changeValue($x);
echo $x->abc; //outputs 20 not possible in java.
I hope you can understand this.