Which of the following is the proper way to document the return type of this method for phpDocumentor?
Method 1:
/**
* @return array Foo array.
*/
public function foo() {
return array(1, 2, 3);
}
Method 2:
/**
* @return integer[] Foo array.
*/
public function foo() {
return array(1, 2, 3);
}
Also, are there any IDE implications from either method?
Edit:
It appears that both PhpStorm and Netbeans 7.1+ IDEs support the 2nd method.
Both methods are technically correct, but this one is considered 'better' because it's more specific (int and integer are interchangeable):
@return int[]
Documented here:
At the moment of writing this answer, these are the accepted ways of phpDocumentor (and probably other PHPDoc implementations) to denote an array:
unspecified, no definition of the contents of the represented array is given. Example:
@return arrayspecified containing a single type, the
Typedefinition informs the reader of the type of each array element. Only oneTypeis then expected as element for a given array. Example:@return int[]
Please note thatmixedis also a single type and with this keyword it is possible to indicate that each array element contains any possible type.- specified containing multiple types, the
Typedefinition informs the reader of the type of each array element. Each element can be of any of the given types. Example:@return (int|string)[]
