What is the significance of the error message "Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting T_OLD_FUNCTION or T_FUNCTION or T_VAR" in PHP code?

The error message "Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting T_OLD_FUNCTION or T_FUNCTION or T_VAR" in PHP code typically indicates a syntax error related to the declaration of a function. This error often occurs when trying to define a function using the "function" keyword in a PHP version that does not support the short-hand function declaration syntax. To resolve this issue, you should declare the function using the full "function" keyword syntax. 

// Incorrect short-hand function declaration
function myFunction() : string {
    return "Hello World";
}

// Correct full function declaration
function myFunction() {
    return "Hello World";
}

Keywords

Parse error syntax error T_STRING T_OLD_FUNCTION T_FUNCTION

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