What are named arguments in PHP 8?
Why Interviewers Ask This
This is a classic screening question for PHP roles. Hiring managers ask it early in interviews to gauge your baseline understanding and determine if you can communicate technical concepts clearly.
Answer
Named arguments (PHP 8.0) allow you to pass arguments to a function by specifying the parameter name, regardless of their position in the signature. Example: array_slice(array: $arr, offset: 1, length: 3, preserve_keys: true);. Benefits: you can skip optional parameters you do not need (no need to pass null placeholders), the code is self-documenting (argument purpose is explicit), and argument order does not matter. Named arguments also work with built-in PHP functions. They are particularly useful for functions with many optional parameters — you only name the ones you want to set, and the rest use their defaults. Named arguments cannot be combined with positional arguments in ambiguous ways.
Pro Tip
Before answering, structure your response: one-line definition → real-world analogy → concrete example from a project. This makes even complex PHP answers easy to follow.