Why does Referencing to Array Elements not work in this situation?

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This referencing works:

$awesome_array = array (1,2,3);
$cool_array = array (4,5,6);

$ref = &$awesome_array; // reference awesome_array
$awesome_array = $cool_array;
echo $ref; //produces (4,5,6) as expected

This referencing also works:

$array[0] = "original";
$element_reference = &$array[0]; // reference $array[0]
$array[0] = "modified";
echo $element_reference; // returns "modified" as expected.

But referencing the elements in an array does not work when you change the entire array. How do you get around this?

$array = array (1,2,3);
$new_array = array (4,5,6);

$element_reference = &$array[0]; // reference $array[0]
$array = $new_array; // CHANGE ENTIRE ARRAY
echo $element_reference; // returns 1 despite the fact that the entire array changed. I need it to return 4?

Why does it not return 4 since the array has changed? How do you reference the element so it returns 4?

asked 1 min ago

wsmwzmsb

1

Why does Referencing to Array Elements not work in this situation?