No Returntype But Still, Only String

By Frederic Bouchery

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

class x {
    function __toString() {
        return 1;
    }
}

echo new x;

Without a return type (or mixed), a method may return any type of data. This is not the case for the magic method __toString, as it really should return a string. So, even without a return type, it complains about the type.

That trick requires strict_types though.

See Also

• Magic methods (PHP manual)
• Declare
• must return string [Try me]

PHP Features

• strict_types
• magic-method
• __tostring

Last updated: 10 September 2026