What is the difference between object identifiers and references in PHP when dealing with objects?

Object identifiers in PHP are unique identifiers assigned to objects when they are created, while references are simply pointers to objects in memory. When dealing with objects, it's important to understand the difference between the two in order to avoid unexpected behavior. To ensure that you are working with the correct object, always use object identifiers to compare objects instead of references. 

// Creating two objects
$obj1 = new stdClass();
$obj2 = $obj1;

// Using object identifiers to compare objects
if ($obj1 === $obj2) {
    echo 'Objects are the same';
} else {
    echo 'Objects are different';
}

Keywords

object identifiers references PHP objects difference

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