[PHP] Object deserialization returns array instead of object.

Description

The "object" response type actually returns an array in PHP.

This can mostly be worked around, with the exception that static analyzers break because the docblock return type (object) does not match the actual return type (array).

I believe it is due to these lines:
https://github.com/swagger-api/swagger-codegen/blob/master/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/php/ObjectSerializer.mustache#L240-L241

        } elseif ($class === 'object') {
            settype($data, 'array');

The generated code has this in the docblock:

* @return object

But the resulting return type is an array.

Swagger-codegen version

2.4.2

Related issues/PRs

This is essentially a duplicate of #5553, but I wanted to add that static analyzers fail when ran against the generated code.

Suggest a fix/enhancement

Returning a stdClass seems ideal here (IMO), but altering the docblock to indicate the array return type would also fix the static analysis issue.

Start in modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/php/ObjectSerializer.mustache at the referenced deserialization branch. Compare the generated return value with its @return object declaration and review related issue #5553 before choosing the intended behavior. Done means generated PHP code returns a value consistent with its documented type and no longer breaks static analysis.