Gets the specified return type of a function

ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getParameters
ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getShortName
ReflectionFunctionAbstract
PHP Manual

# ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getReturnType

(PHP 7)

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

### Description

public ReflectionType ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getReturnType ( void )

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::hasReturnType() - Checks if the function has a specified return type
- ReflectionType::__toString() - To string

ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getParameters
ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getShortName
ReflectionFunctionAbstract
PHP Manual