Question

$cars = array(
     array('name' => 'Toyota', price => 10000, ...),
     array('name' => 'Ford', price => 20000, ...),
     ...
);

foreach($cars as &$car)
{
   do_something($car['name']);
}
unset($car);

function do_something($name)
{
    ....
}

In do_something() function, is $name a reference or a value? If it is a reference, how do I just retrieve the value in the loop and pass that in the function?

Answer 1

No, $name in do_something() function is not a reference, it is not pass by reference, only pass the value of $car['name'] to $name.

If you want to pass by reference, you could do like below, pass $car as reference.

$cars = array(
     array('name' => 'Toyota', price => 10000),
     array('name' => 'Ford', price => 20000)
);

foreach($cars as &$car)
{
   do_something($car);
}

var_dump($cars);

function do_something(&$car)
{
    $car['name'] .= '_changed';
}