[Resolved] Arrays and functions

[piersk]

Just a quick question: can you pass arrays to a function, like C does with pointers? If so, how?

[ahundiak]

Pass em just like any other arg.

function doit($arg_array)
{
  print_r($arg_array);
}
$data = array(1,2,3);
doit($data);

Be aware that by default, a copy of the array is passed. Modifications done in the function will be lost when the function returns. Add an & to pass by reference. The calling syntax stays the same.

function doit(&$arg_array)

[piersk]

Is a reference the same as a pointer in C?

[ahundiak]

For most purposes, a php reference acts the same as a c pointer. Especially when it comes to passing things by value vs passing by reference.

Internally, they are actually very different so if I said they were the same then I would get beat up by the technical gurus. For example, you can do math between c pointers but I doubt if you could do the same with php references.

Poke around on the zend.com site. There are several papers there that discuss php memory management in more detail.

[piersk]

Ta muchly.