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<ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getParametersReflectionFunctionAbstract::getShortName>
^ReflectionFunctionAbstractLast updated: Mon, 26 Oct 2026

ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getReturnType

(PHP 7, PHP 8)

ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getReturnType — Gets the specified return type of a function

Description

public function ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getReturnType(): ?ReflectionType

Gets the specified return type of a reflected function.

Parameters

This function has no parameters.

Return Values

Returns a ReflectionType object if a return type is specified, null otherwise.

Examples

Example #1 ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getReturnType() example

<?php

function to_int($param) : int {
    return (int) $param;
}

$reflection1 = new ReflectionFunction('to_int');
echo $reflection1->getReturnType();

The above example will output:

int

Example #2 Usage on built-in functions

<?php

$reflection2 = new ReflectionFunction('array_merge');

var_dump($reflection2->getReturnType());

The above example will output:

null

This is because many internal functions do not have types specified for their parameters or return values. It is therefore best to avoid using this method on built-in functions.

See Also


<ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getParametersReflectionFunctionAbstract::getShortName>
^ReflectionFunctionAbstractLast updated: Mon, 26 Oct 2026