Call time pass-by-reference has been deprecated for a while now, and PHP before 5.4 throws a warning when it is used.
So, most code has already been updated to eliminate call time pass-by-references.
Note:
This ONLY applies to fuction calls.
It does NOT apply to function definition. So, pass-by-reference CAN continue to be used in function defenitions.
Thus, the following code IS valid:
<?php
function foo(&$var){
$var++;
}
$a = 0;
foo($a);
?>
But, the following code IS NOT valid:
<?php
function foo($var){
$var++;
}
$a = 0;
foo(&$a);
?>