The WeakReference class
(PHP 7 >= 7.4.0, PHP 8)
Introduction
Weak references allow the programmer to retain a reference to an object which does not prevent the object from being destroyed. They are useful for implementing cache like structures.
WeakReferences cannot be serialized.
Class synopsis
WeakReference Examples
Example #1 Basic WeakReference Usage
<?php
$obj = new stdClass;
$weakref = WeakReference::create($obj);
var_dump($weakref->get());
unset($obj);
var_dump($weakref->get());
?>
The above example will output something similar to:
object(stdClass)#1 (0) { } NULL
Table of Contents
- WeakReference::__construct — Constructor that disallows instantiation
- WeakReference::create — Create a new weak reference
- WeakReference::get — Get a weakly referenced Object