assign.this

Code example

<?php declare(strict_types = 1);

class Foo
{
	public function doFoo(): void
	{
		$this = new self();
	}
}

Why is it reported?

PHP does not allow re-assigning $this. The $this variable is a special read-only reference to the current object instance and cannot be used as an assignment target. This applies to direct assignments, compound assignments, array destructuring, and foreach loop variables.

This error is reported regardless of context — inside instance methods, static methods, and even standalone functions where $this is not available at all.

This error is not ignorable.

How to fix it

Use a different variable name:

 class Foo
 {
 	public function doFoo(): void
 	{
-		$this = new self();
+		$instance = new self();
 	}
 }

When $this appears as a foreach loop variable, rename it:

-foreach ($items as $this) {
+foreach ($items as $item) {
 	var_dump($item);
 }