PHP Destructor | unset() VS overwriting object

Question

I have learned from this SO question that the best way to destroy objects in PHP is to use unset.

I am wondering if I even need to destroy the object if I am essentially using the same var in a loop ...

foreach ($ids_array as $id) {
    $O = new Object($id);

    // stuff and things
}

Does this really use the same memory or am I unknowingly creating a bunch of objects and not destroying them?

You overwrite `$O` each time through the loop. – AbraCadaver Jul 26 '17 at 15:41 — AbraCadaver, Jul 26 '17 at 15:41

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 26 '17 at 15:44

If there's no variable left referring to an object, it will eventually get garbage collected. For that purpose it's irrelevant whether you unset the variable(s) or simply assign something else to them so they stop referring to the object.

IMO you should rarely use unset, you should rather write small functions which will automatically discard all variables in their scope when they return, which means things will get garbage collected automatically rather sooner than later and you don't need to worry much about it.

PHP Destructor | unset() VS overwriting object

1 Answers1