What are the benefits of adding documentation comments to custom PHP functions?

The benefits of adding documentation comments to custom PHP functions include: improving code readability and maintainability, making it easier for others to understand the functionality of the function. Enable IDE smart prompts and auto-completion to speed up development. Provide a basis for test cases to ensure functions meet expectations. Example: /*** Calculate the sum of two numbers * @param int $number1 the first number * @param int $number2 the second number * @return int the sum of the two numbers*/

Benefits of adding documentation comments for custom PHP functions

Documentation comments are A special annotation attached to a function or class to provide information about its functionality and how to use it. Adding documentation comments to custom PHP functions has many benefits, including:

1. Code readability and maintainability

Documentation comments make your code easier Read and understand, especially for other developers. Clear documentation helps reduce confusion and errors by documenting a function's purpose, parameters, and return values.

2. IDE smart prompts and auto-completion

Many IDEs (integrated development environments) support documentation comments. When you call a function in the IDE, documentation comments provide smart tips showing the function's available parameters and return values. It also provides auto-completion to help you speed up development.

3. Testability

Documentation comments can serve as the basis for test cases. By verifying the expected inputs and outputs specified in the documentation, you can ensure that the function behaves as expected.

4. Practical case

The following code example demonstrates how to add documentation comments in PHP functions:

/**
 * 计算两数的总和
 *
 * @param int $number1 第一个数字
 * @param int $number2 第二个数字
 * @return int 两个数字的总和
 */
function sum(int $number1, int $number2): int
{
    return $number1 + $number2;
}

As you can see, the documentation comments start with Three slashes (/**) followed by three asterisks (***/) end. The text in the middle is organized into lines, with each line describing a different aspect of the function. The IDE now displays an IntelliTip for this function, as shown below:

function sum(int $number1, int $number2): int

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