Considering this PHP example:

class A
{
  public function getB( )
  {
    return new B();
  }
}

class B
{
  public function test( )
  {
    echo "Hello";
  }
}

I could use this:

$a = new A( );
$b = $a->getB( );
$b->test( ); // Hello

Or this:

$a = new A();
$a->getB( )->test( ); // Hello

Taking a closer look at the second example...

• What is the name of this form of expression?

• Does this have something to do with dereferencing?

• In which programming languages is this available?

• What other forms of this exist?