void__construct mixedargs ... PHP 5 allows developers to declare constructor methods for classes. Classes which have a constructor method call this method on each newly-created object, so it is suitable for any initialization that the object may need before it is used. Parent constructors are not called implicitly if the child class defines a constructor. In order to run a parent constructor, a call to parent::__construct within the child constructor is required. ]]> For backwards compatibility, if PHP 5 cannot find a __construct function for a given class, it will search for the old-style constructor function, by the name of the class. Effectively, it means that the only case that would have compatibility issues is if the class had a method named __construct which was used for different semantics. void__destruct PHP 5 introduces a destructor concept similar to that of other object-oriented languages, such as C++. The destructor method will be called as soon as all references to a particular object are removed or when the object is explicitly destroyed. name = "MyDestructableClass"; } function __destruct() { print "Destroying " . $this->name . "\n"; } } $obj = new MyDestructableClass(); ?> ]]> Like constructors, parent destructors will not be called implicitly by the engine. In order to run a parent destructor, one would have to explicitly call parent::__destruct in the destructor body. Destructor is called during the script shutdown so headers are always already sent. Attempting to throw an exception from a destructor causes a fatal error.