What does this even do?
/**
* @return null|string
*/
I'm really confused. I'm applying the leskov substitution principle but does it do anything to a function? or just a note?
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1You want to read about `PHPDOC`. – arkascha Feb 21 '17 at 13:23
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This is a phpdoc-style documentation comment. It makes generating documentation for reference easier, and most IDEs will pick up on it.
See https://phpdoc.org/docs/latest/getting-started/your-first-set-of-documentation.html
Bytewave
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THANK YOU! Last question, So it's for an IDE then? like for example if I put a @return string the IDE will display a redline if the return type is not string? – Keannu Alforque Atilano Feb 21 '17 at 13:27
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IDEs may treat it differently, but it's a comment. It doesn't actually matter to the language, it just helps the humans writing it. So, I doubt it would cause any flags in your editor. Or, it would just be a notice. – Bytewave Feb 21 '17 at 13:28
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In PHP 7, you can specify the return types of a function to the language itself using `method(): returntype {`, but the documentation comment does nothing. – Bytewave Feb 21 '17 at 13:30
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It does nothing. /* and */ define a comment block.
Interestingly in PHP, the @ symbol in actual code suppresses any errors that might be caused by that code: see What is the use of the @ symbol in PHP?
But, most likely, the whole thing could be simply some documentation, and the @ used to indicate some documentation metadata.
