What are some best practices for returning different data types from a function in PHP?

When returning different data types from a function in PHP, it is important to clearly define the return type in the function signature using PHP's type declarations. This helps improve code readability and maintainability by explicitly stating what type of data the function will return. Additionally, using conditional statements within the function to determine the return value based on certain conditions can help ensure that the correct data type is returned. 

function getData($type) : mixed {
    if($type === 'string') {
        return 'Hello, World!';
    } elseif($type === 'int') {
        return 123;
    } elseif($type === 'array') {
        return [1, 2, 3];
    } else {
        return null;
    }
}

// Example usage
$stringData = getData('string');
$intData = getData('int');
$arrayData = getData('array');

Keywords

PHP function data types return best practices

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