return large data by reference or as return in function?
问题 On the job today I had a argue with a collage about passing large data between scopes. The myth was that reference uses less memory/CPU usage when passing between 2 scopes. We build a proof of concept who was right... so: function by_return($dummy=null) { $dummy = str_repeat("1",100 * 1024 * 1024); return $dummy; } function by_reference(&$dummy) { $dummy = null; $dummy = str_repeat("1",100 * 1024 * 1024); } echo memory_get_usage()."/".memory_get_peak_usage()."\n"; //1 always returns: