title: Do I need to use the ampersand in PHP 5.5.X and above anymore?
body: <p>I'm getting mixed signals all over the place.</p>
  
  <p>Do I use the ampersand to pass variables by reference or not?</p>
  
  <p>The following link seems to tell me that it is deprecated and no longer necessary:<br>
  <a href="http://gtk.php.net/manual/en/html/tutorials/tutorials.changes.references.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://gtk.php.net/manual/en/html/tutorials/tutorials.changes.references.html</a></p>
  
  <p>But threads like these make me wonder:<br>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5010036/call-time-pass-by-reference-deprecated">Call-time pass-by-reference deprecated?</a><br>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5682654/php-and-ampersand">PHP and ampersand</a></p>
  
  <p>Let me phrase my question as an example.</p>
  
  <p>If I make a function, using PHP 5.5.5:</p>
  
  <pre><code>function recurring_mailer_form($form, $form_state) 
  {
  
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Is it the same as:</p>
  
  <pre><code>function recurring_mailer_form($form, &amp;$form_state) 
  {
  
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>?</p>