Using pointers or modifiers in php functions
<p>In ruby a lot of methods have the <code>!</code> marker which usually means a variable will be modified in place.  So you could do </p>

<pre><code>p "HELLO".downcase!
</code></pre>

<p>which is the same as </p>

<pre><code>s = "HELLO".downcase
p s
</code></pre>

<p>In php you can use a pointer with the ampersand &amp; symbol before a variable to modify it in place, or handle the var as a pointer.  But does a function modifier exist or variable modifier that would allow for in place modification of varibales like</p>

<pre><code>$str = "hi world";
str_replace("hi", "world", &amp;$str)
</code></pre>
