Question

global $user vs $user = $GLOBALS['user']

by using “global $var” to get a global variable, do we get a copy of the global var or get a reference to that global variable?

global $user;

Is $user a copy of global object or is a reference to actual global variable?

Thanks.

Answer 1

by using it with global $var; you always have a local variable that references the global variable.

Following code:

$var = 1;

function test() {
  global $var;

  $var++;
}

test();
echo $var;

is equivalent to:

$var = 1;

function test() {
  $GLOBALS['var']++;
}

test();
echo $var;