Function Returning by Reference

[terryds]

What's the difference between

 

function &return_fish() {

$fish = "Fish";

return $fish;

}

$fish_ref =&return_fish();

And

function return_fish() {

$fish = "Fish";

return $fish;

}

$fish_ref = return_fish();

I see that the first one is returning by reference...

But, i don't understand what 'returning by refence' means... I'm sorry i'm not so good at English

Can you give me an example to show that they are different ?

 

[justsomeguy]

That example isn't very useful. In fact, returning a reference isn't used very often. Normally you pass by reference instead. Where did you see that example?