what does return $this mean in php oops ?

This way of coding is called fluent interface. return $this returns the current object, so you can call multiple function as single object/line code like this: do you know about method chaining if no ,then you can find here :) $object ->function1() ->function2() ->function3() ; instead of: $object->function1(); $object->function2(); $object->function3(); Here is you can find real example <?php class a{ public $name=''; public function setName($name){ $this->name=$name; return $this; } public function getName(){ $this->name; return $this; } } ?> Create an object to call method-chaining <?php $obja=new a(); $name=$obja->setName('bikash')->getName(); echo $name->name; Hope this class may help you :)