When I was looking through templates yesterday, I noticed this:
function template_build_poster_div($message, $ignoring)
{
global $context, $settings, $options, $txt, $scripturl, $modSettings;
$poster_div = '';
// Show information about the poster of this message.
$poster_div .= '
<ul class="dropmenu">
<li>';
// Show a link to the member's profile.
$poster_div .= '
<a href="' . $scripturl . '?action=profile;u=' . $message['member']['id'] . '">
<span class="name">' . $message['member']['name'] . '</span>
</a>';
Obviously the $poster_div .=' is just substituting for the old echo' and is doing the same job, but echo' is still used in other places. What's the rationale regarding the new syntax? It's more verbose, and I can see it being possibly more confusing, but I assume there is a reason it was chosen.