Spotting References
    Many syntax constructs in PHP are implemented via referencing     mechanisms, so everything told above about reference binding also     apply to these constructs. Some constructs, like passing and     returning by-reference, are mentioned above. Other constructs that     use references are:    
global References
     When you declare variable as global $var you      are in fact creating reference to a global variable. That means,      this is the same as:      
     
     That means, for example, that unsetting $var      won't unset global variable.     
$this
     In an object method, $this is always reference      to the caller object.