How can references in a PHP class be defined to ensure they are of a specific type?

To ensure that references in a PHP class are of a specific type, you can use type hinting in the class constructor or setter methods. By specifying the type of the reference parameter, PHP will throw a fatal error if an incorrect type is passed. This helps to enforce type safety and prevent unexpected behavior in your code. 

class MyClass {
    private $reference;

    public function __construct(TypeHintedClass &$reference) {
        $this->reference = $reference;
    }
}

class TypeHintedClass {
    // Class definition
}

$object = new TypeHintedClass();
$myClass = new MyClass($object);

Keywords

PHP class references type hinting strict typing

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