Writing clear and comprehensive documentation for PHP functions is crucial for modular, maintainable, and team-collaborative code. Adhering to standardized documentation practices ensures consistency and ease of understanding.
Function names should start with a lowercase letter and use underscores to separate words (e.g., my_function). Additionally, follow PSR-2 naming conventions by using camel case for class and method names (e.g., MyFunction).
Use the @param tag to specify the type and description of function parameters.
/** * @param string $name Username * @param string $password Password */ function login(string $name, string $password) {}
Use the @return tag to specify the type and description of a function's return value.
/** * @return bool Whether the login was successful */ function login(string $name, string $password): bool {}
Use the @throws tag to specify the exception types and descriptions that the function might throw.
/** * @throws InvalidArgumentException If $name or $password is empty */ function login(string $name, string $password): bool {}
Here’s an example of a function comment block that conforms to the PSR-5 standard:
/** * Login user * @param string $name Username * @param string $password Password * @return bool Whether the login was successful * @throws InvalidArgumentException If $name or $password is empty */ function login(string $name, string $password): bool {}
Example: Get the current time.
/** * Get the current time * @return string Current time string */ function get_current_time(): string { return date('Y-m-d H:i:s'); }
Example: Calculate the sum of two numbers.
/** * Calculate the sum of two numbers * @param int $a First number * @param int $b Second number * @return int The sum */ function sum(int $a, int $b): int { return $a + $b; }