The aim of this PR is twofold:
- Reduce the number of highly similar TMP|VAR handlers
- Avoid ZVAL_DEREF in most of these cases
This is achieved by guaranteeing that all zend_compile_expr() calls, as well as
all other compile calls with BP_VAR_{R,IS}, will result in a TMP variable. This
implies that the result will not contain an IS_INDIRECT or IS_REFERENCE value,
which was mostly already the case, with two exceptions:
- Calls to return-by-reference functions. Because return-by-reference functions
are quite rare, this is solved by delegating the DEREF to the RETURN_BY_REF
handler, which will examine the stack to check whether the caller expects a
VAR or TMP to understand whether the DEREF is needed. Internal functions will
also need to adjust by calling the zend_return_unwrap_ref() function.
- By-reference assignments, including both $a = &$b, as well as $a = [&$b]. When
the result of these expressions is used in a BP_VAR_R context, the reference
is unwrapped via a ZEND_QM_ASSIGN opcode beforehand. This is exceptionally
rare.
Closes GH-20628
6173a9a109