What\'s the Difference Between \'&=\' and \'=&\' Operators in PHP?

Understanding the "=&" and &=" Operators in PHP

The PHP programming language provides a range of useful operators for various tasks. Among these are the "=&" and "&=" operators, which have distinct functionalities.

The "&=" Operator

The "&=" operator is referred to as the bitwise AND assignment operator. It performs a bitwise AND operation on two variables and assigns the result to the左側 variable. For example:

<code class="php">$a = 10;
$a &= 5; // $a becomes 2 (10 & 5 = 0010 & 0101 = 0010)</code>

The "=&" Operator

The "=&" operator, on the other hand, is used to assign a reference to a variable. It creates an alias or a shortcut to the original variable, such that any changes made to the reference will also be reflected in the original variable. For instance:

<code class="php">$a = 10;
&$b = $a; // $b is now a reference to $a
$b = 5; // $a now also becomes 5</code>

Reference Documentation

To delve deeper into the details and usage of these operators, refer to the following official PHP documentation:

• [Bitwise AND Assignment Operator (&=) Documentation](https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.operators.bitwise.php#language.operators.bitwise.assign)
• [Reference Assignment Operator (=&) Documentation](https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.references.php#language.references.assignment)

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