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PHP - Return Type Declarations
PHP version 7 extends the scalar type declaration feature to the return value of a function also. As per this new provision, the return type declaration specifies the type of value that a function should return. We can declare the following types for return types −
int
float
bool
string
interfaces
array
callable
To implement the return type declaration, a function is defined as −
function myfunction(type $par1, type $param2): type { # function body return $val; }
PHP parser is coercive typing by default. You need to declare "strict_types=1" to enforce stricter verification of the type of variable to be returned with the type used in the definition.
Example
In the following example, the division() function is defined with a return type as int.
<?php function division(int $x, int $y): int { $z = $x/$y; return $z; } $x=20.5; $y=10; echo "First number: " . $x; echo "\nSecond number: " . $y; echo "\nDivision: " . division($x, $y); ?>
Since the type checking has not been set to strict_types=1, the division take place even if one of the parameters is a non-integer.
First number: 20.5 Second number: 10 Division: 2
However, as soon as you add the declaration of strict_types at the top of the script, the program raises a fatal error message.
Fatal error: Uncaught TypeError: division(): Argument #1 ($x) must be of type int, float given, called in div.php on line 12 and defined in div.php:3 Stack trace: #0 div.php(12): division(20.5, 10) #1 {main} thrown in div.php on line 3
VS Code warns about the error even before running the code by displaying error lines at the position of error −
Example
To make the division() function return a float instead of int, cast the numerator to float, and see how PHP raises the fatal error −
<?php // declare(strict_types=1); function division(int $x, int $y): int { $z = (float)$x/$y; return $z; } $x=20; $y=10; echo "First number: " . $x; echo "\nSecond number: " . $y; echo "\nDivision: " . division($x, $y); ?>
Uncomment the declare statement at the top and run this code here to check its output. It will show an error −
First number: 20 Second number: 10PHP Fatal error: Uncaught TypeError: division(): Return value must be of type int, float returned in /home/cg/root/14246/main.php:5 Stack trace: #0 /home/cg/root/14246/main.php(13): division() #1 {main} thrown in /home/cg/root/14246/main.php on line 5