No Useless Return

Some of PHP magic methods makes no usage of the returned value. Such methods may simply finish without return, or use the empty return instruction.

<?php

class x {
	function __construct() {
		// construct the object
		
		return true; // return value is ignored.
	}
	
	function __destruct() {
		if (!$this->resource) {
			return ; // returns void, as a short cut
		}
		
		$this->close($this->resource);
		// implicit return;
	}
}


?>

It is recommended to omit return in those methods, unless for short circuiting it.

Rule Details

This rule is aimed at avoiding use of return in methods that doesn't need it. Here is the list :

• __construct
• __destruct
• __set
• __clone
• __unset

Also __autoload, methods used for autoloading and methods registered for shutdown, have no need to return anything.

The following patterns are considered warnings:

<?php

class exampleClass {
	function __construct() {
		// construct the object
		
		return true; // return value is ignored.
	}
}

?>

The following patterns are not considered warnings:

<?php

class x {
	function __unset($name) {
		return ; // short circuit the method
	}
	
	function __set($name, $value) {
		return null; // short circuit the method
	}

	function __clone() {
		// implicit return (aka none)
	}
}
?>