title: Why is ::class appended to PHP class in Laravel 5.1
body: <p>In Laravel 5.0 code like this is used for names-pacing/loading classes:</p>
  
  <pre><code>  'providers' =&gt; [
  
          /*
           * Laravel Framework Service Providers...
           */
           'Illuminate\Foundation\Providers\ArtisanServiceProvider',
           'Illuminate\Auth\AuthServiceProvider',
           'Illuminate\Broadcasting\BroadcastServiceProvider',
           'Illuminate\Bus\BusServiceProvider',
  ]
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>However, am seeing this in Laravel 5.1</p>
  
  <pre><code>'providers' =&gt; [
  
          /*
           * Laravel Framework Service Providers...
           */
           Illuminate\Foundation\Providers\ArtisanServiceProvider::class,
           Illuminate\Auth\AuthServiceProvider::class,
           Illuminate\Broadcasting\BroadcastServiceProvider::class,
           Illuminate\Bus\BusServiceProvider::class,
  ]
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>My question: What is the benefit of this <code>Illuminate\Bus\BusServiceProvider::class</code> over this <code>'Illuminate\Bus\BusServiceProvider'</code>, when should I append <code>::class</code> to a class name?</p>
  
  <p>Is there any where I can find this in PHP documentation? </p>