Are there any specific scenarios where using references in PHP is recommended or discouraged?

Using references in PHP can be useful when you want to modify a variable's value directly without creating a copy of it. This can be particularly helpful when working with large arrays or objects to avoid unnecessary memory usage. However, excessive use of references can make the code harder to read and debug, so it's important to use them judiciously. 

// Example of using references in PHP
$original_value = 10;

// Function that modifies a variable using a reference
function modify_value(&$value) {
    $value *= 2;
}

// Passing the variable by reference to the function
modify_value($original_value);

echo $original_value; // Output: 20

Keywords

references PHP scenarios recommended discouraged

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