6.8.1. Problem

6.8.2. Solution

function averages($stats) {
    ...
    return array($median, $mean, $mode);
}

list($median, $mean, $mode) = averages($stats);

6.8.3. Discussion

function time_parts($time) {
    return explode(':', $time);
}

list($hour, $minute, $second) = time_parts('12:34:56');

You pass in a time string as you might see on a digital clock and call explode( ) to break it apart as array elements. When time_parts( ) returns, use list( ) to take each element and store it in a scalar variable. Although this is a little inefficient, the other possible solutions are worse because they can lead to confusing code.

function time_parts($time, &$hour, &$minute, &$second) {
    list($hour, $minute, $second) = explode(':', $time);
}

time_parts('12:34:56', $hour, $minute, $second);

Without knowledge of the function prototype, there's no way to look at this and know $hour, $minute, and $second are, in essence, the return values of time_parts( ).

function time_parts($time) {
    global $hour, $minute, $second;
    list($hour, $minute, $second) = explode(':', $time);
}

time_parts('12:34:56');

Again, here it's clear because the function is directly above the call, but if the function is in a different file or written by another person, it'd be more mysterious and thus open to creating a subtle bug.

Our advice is that if you modify a value inside a function, return that value and assign it to a variable unless you have a very good reason, such as significant performance issues. It's cleaner and easier to understand and maintain.

6.8.4. See Also