PHP return type

Since this question still comes up in search engine results, here is an up-to-date answer:

PHP 7 actually introduced proper return types for functions / methods as per this RFC.

Here is the example from the manual linked above:

function sum($a, $b): float {
    return $a + $b;
}

Or, in a more general notation:

function function_name(): return_type {
    // some code
    return $var // Has to be of type `return_type`
}

If the returned variable or value does not match the return type, PHP will implicitly convert it to that type. Alternatively, you can enable strict typing for the file via declare(strict_types=1);, in which case a type mismatch will lead to a TypeError Exception.

Easy as that. However, remember that you need to make sure that PHP 7 is available on both, your development and production server.

It's not possible to explicitly define the return type at the method/function level. As specified, you can cast in the return, so for example ...

return (bool)$value;

Alternatively, you can add a comment in phpDoc syntax, and many IDEs will pick up the type from a type completion perspective.

/**
 * example of basic @return usage
 * @return myObject
 */
function fred()
{
    return new myObject();
}

As per this page : http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.type-juggling.php

You can try doing,

return (boolean) $value;

Now PHP offer return type declaration from PHP 7. I have explained how to use return type in PHP