PHP 5 functioning returning an array- interaction without assignment?

Question

I'm wondering if this kind of thing will ever be possible in PHP (and whether it already is and I'm just missing something...)

<?php

function test() {
 return array(
  'id'=>10,
  'name'=>'John'
 );
}

echo 'Your name is: '.test()['name'];

?>

I'd really like to be able to use returned arrays directly instead of first assigning them to a var... possible?

Answer 1

Simple answer: don't think so

The PHP lexer doesn't recognize these kind of statements so a change would require some major changes within the core components of PHP. Although I must admit, that I don't see any reason why the lexer has been written that way.

Answer 2

No you can't do in this way, but with php5 and OOP you have some alternatives...