rfc:explicit_send_by_ref

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PHP RFC: Explicit call-site pass-by-reference

Introduction

Currently parameters that are passed by reference are only declared when defining a function, while the call-site does not distinguish between by-value and by-reference arguments. This RFC proposes to allow marking by-reference arguments at the call-site as well.

Consider the following example of an inc() function, which accepts a number by reference and increments it:

function inc(&$num) { $num++; }
 
$i = 0;
inc($i);
var_dump($i); // int(1)

The function declaration uses inc(&$num) to specify that this parameter is accepted by reference. However, the call inc($i) does not contain any indication that the variable $i is passed by reference and may be modified by the function.

This proposal allows to use the following syntax instead, which makes the use of pass-by-reference clear:

function inc(&$num) { $num++; }
 
$i = 0;
inc(&$i);
var_dump($i); // int(1)

Importantly, if this syntax is used, the by-reference pass is declared both at the definition-site and the call-site. As such, the following code will generate an error:

function inc($num) { return $num + 1; }
 
$i = 0;
inc(&$i); // Cannot pass reference to by-value parameter 1
var_dump($i);

The requirement that the reference is marked at both the definition- and call-site makes this feature different from the call-site pass-by-reference that was used in PHP 4.

Of course, it remains possible to not explicitly mark reference-passing at the call-site. We may wish to deprecate and remove this ability in the future, but this RFC does not propose this.

Motivation

The motivation for this proposal boils down to making it simpler to understand code, both for programmers and for static analyzers.

As a simple example, consider the following two calls, which look deceptively similar:

$ret = array_slice($array, 0, 3);
$ret = array_splice($array, 0, 3);

In both cases $ret will have the same result (the first three elements of the array). However, in the latter case these elements are also removed from the original array. Looking just at the call-site, it's not possible to see that array_splice actually performs an in-place modification of the array.

Under this proposal, this example would look as follows instead:

$ret = array_slice($array, 0, 3);
$ret = array_splice(&$array, 0, 3);

Here it's clearly visible that array_splice is going to modify the input array, while array_slice does not.

Beyond this, arguments that are passed by-reference fundamentally change the way in which the argument is accessed. A by-value argument will be read as usual, while a by-reference argument is treated similar to an assignment. Notably, by-reference arguments do not need to be initialized prior to use. The probably most common example of this is the use of the preg_match function:

$ip = "127.0.0.1";
if (preg_match('/^(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)$/', $ip, $matches)) {
    var_dump($matches);
}

The $matches variable does not need to be initialized in this case, because the by-reference pass will initialize it implicitly. The proposed syntax makes the by-reference pass and the associated change in access semantics explicit:

$ip = "127.0.0.1";
if (preg_match('/^(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)$/', $ip, &$matches)) {
    var_dump($matches);
}

It should come as no surprise that understanding code that uses implicit by-reference passing is hard not only for humans, but also for static analysis tools. Consider the following basic example:

function test($obj) {
    $obj->method($x);
    return $x;
}

Does this code use an uninitialized variable $x? Unless it's possible to infer the type of $obj and determine which method is being called and whether it uses by-reference passing, it's impossible to answer this question. In all likelihood the method uses by-value passing and this is a programming error, but it might also be an intentional use of the by-reference automatic initialization.

While static analyzers in IDEs and CI systems will make reasonable assumptions in this case, the PHP implementation itself does not have this luxury. In fact, our inability to determine at compile-time whether a certain argument is passed by-value or by-reference is one of the most significant obstacles in our ability to analyze and optimize compiled code. The runtime dispatch between by-value and by-reference passing also adds significant complexity to the Zend VM, with at least 7 opcodes dedicated to only this task.

This proposal does not resolve this issue, because it introduces an entirely optional feature. The previous syntax where pass-by-reference is not explicitly marked will continue to work. We may want to deprecate and remove it in the future, but this RFC does not propose this, as it is a quite significant change.

Detailed proposal

This proposal adds the ability to mark function call arguments as by-reference, by prefixing them with a & sigil. A function call argument can only be marked by-reference if the corresponding function parameter is also marked as a reference.

function func($byVal, &$byRef) {}
 
func($byVal, &$byRef);

This syntax requires the & sigil to be followed by a (syntactical) variable. The following code yields a parse error:

func(&42); // Parse error

If an call argument is marked by-reference, but the corresponding declaration parameter is not a reference, an error is generated. The error will be either a compile error, or an Error exception, depending on whether it is detected at compile-time or runtime:

function func($val) {}
func(&$var);
// Fatal error: Cannot pass reference to by-value parameter 1 [compile-time]
// Uncaught Error: Cannot pass reference to by-value parameter 1 [run-time]

Function calls are syntactical variables. As such, the following code is legal:

function &passthruRef(&$ref) { return $ref; }
function inc(&$num) { $num++; }
 
$i = 0;
inc(&passthruRef(&$i));
var_dump($i); // int(1)

If the function does not return by-reference an error is thrown:

function passthruVal($val) { return $val; }
function inc(&$num) { $num++; }
 
$i = 0;
inc(&passthruVal($i));
// Fatal error: Cannot pass result of by-value function by reference [compile-time]
// Uncaught Error: Cannot pass result of by-value function by reference [run-time]

Apart from these additional error checks, the call-site reference-passing annotation does not change affect execution semantics in any way.

Backward Incompatible Changes

None. This use of this feature is optional.

Other languages

The following table shows syntactic requirements for by-reference argument passing in different languages. The defining characteristic of a “reference” is here taken to be the ability to modify an argument of primitive type within the function.

Language Declaration Call Notes
C / C++ foo(T *bar) foo(&bar) Unless already pointer
C++ foo(T &bar) foo(bar)
C# foo(ref T bar) foo(ref bar)
foo(out T bar) foo(out bar)
Rust foo(bar: &mut T) foo(&mut bar) Unless already mut ref
Swift foo(_ bar: inout T) foo(&bar)

With the notable exception of C++ (which most likely inspired our current reference-passing syntax), reference annotations are required both at the declaration and the call-site.

In languages where references are first-class types (rather than a special feature of calls specifically), it is possible to store the obtained reference in a variable. In this case the reference may not be obtained at a point prior to the call-site. However, the reference has to be explicitly obtained at some point.

Future Scope

Currently PHP abuses by-reference passing as a way to implement inout (array_push) and out (preg_match) parameters. It may be advisable to make these first-class language features instead, thus avoiding some of the pitfalls, as well as performance penalties of references.

For example the auto-initialization behavior of references is only desired in the case of out parameters. For inout parameters it is liable to hide programming mistakes instead. However, the current system is not capable of distinguishing these cases.

Vote

This proposal is a language-change and requires a 2/3 supermajority to pass.

rfc/explicit_send_by_ref.1512589749.txt.gz · Last modified: 2017/12/06 19:49 by nikic