Global vs pass by reference 1

[spelltwister]

Hey all,

Is there any advantage to using pass by reference over global declaration in the function?

Here's what I have:

$myArray;

function alterMyArray(){
global $myArray;
//do something to my array
}

function alterMyArray(&$myArray){
//do something to my array
}

alterMyArray($myArray);

The function will only ever have the $myArray variable passed in so, is there any reason to use pass by reference?

Lastly, does the & go in the function signature or in the function call (IE function A(&$byRef){} OR A(&$byRef)Wink

Thanks a bunch!

Mike

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[sleipnir214]

First, the easy question. The "&" goes in the function definition:

http://www.php.net/manual/en/functions.arguments.php

Whether a global or pass-by-reference is better depends on how much code reuse you do. If you intent to include that function from multiple scripts, you will, I think, be better off with a pass-by-reference parameter. The interpreter will remind you if you forget to pass in a necessary parameter. It may not do so if you forget to create the global variable outside the function.

As a standard practice, I use as few "global" variables as possible. I never know when I will need to reuse my code.



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