! When declaring a function, the function name is preceded by an ampersand?

Help! When declaring a function, the function name is preceded by an & amp; what does it mean ??? This post was last edited by zx11307 from 2013-12-2417: 57: 24 as described in: function & nbsp; & amp; ret_ref () {$ help! When declaring a function, the function name is preceded by an ampersand ???
This post was last edited by zx11307 at 17:57:24, as described in:
For example

function &ret_ref(){
$var="php";
return $var;
}
$v=&ret_ref();

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