Constructors and DestructorsConstructorvoid__constructmixedvalues""
PHP 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. If the child does not define a constructor then it may be inherited
from the parent class just like a normal class method (if it was not declared
as private).
Constructors in inheritance
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Unlike other methods, __construct()
is exempt from the usual
signature compatibility rules
when being extended.
Constructors are ordinary methods which are called during the instantiation of their
corresponding object. As such, they may define an arbitrary number of arguments, which
may be required, may have a type, and may have a default value. Constructor arguments
are called by placing the arguments in parentheses after the class name.
Using constructor arguments
x = $x;
$this->y = $y;
}
}
// Pass both parameters.
$p1 = new Point(4, 5);
// Pass only the required parameter. $y will take its default value of 0.
$p2 = new Point(4);
// With named parameters (as of PHP 8.0):
$p3 = new Point(y: 5, x: 4);
?>
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If a class has no constructor, or the constructor has no required arguments, the parentheses
may be omitted.
Old-style constructors
Prior to PHP 8.0.0, classes in the global namespace will interpret a method named
the same as the class as an old-style constructor. That syntax is deprecated,
and will result in an E_DEPRECATED error but still call that function as a constructor.
If both __construct() and a same-name method are
defined, __construct() will be called.
In namespaced classes, or any class as of PHP 8.0.0, a method named
the same as the class never has any special meaning.
Always use __construct() in new code.
Constructor Promotion
As of PHP 8.0.0, constructor parameters may also be promoted to correspond to an
object property. It is very common for constructor parameters to be assigned to
a property in the constructor but otherwise not operated upon. Constructor promotion
provides a short-hand for that use case. The example above could be rewritten as the following.
Using constructor property promotion
When a constructor argument includes a visibility modifier, PHP will interpret it as
both an object property and a constructor argument, and assign the argument value to
the property. The constructor body may then be empty or may contain other statements.
Any additional statements will be executed after the argument values have been assigned
to the corresponding properties.
Not all arguments need to be promoted. It is possible to mix and match promoted and not-promoted
arguments, in any order. Promoted arguments have no impact on code calling the constructor.
Object properties may not be typed callable due to engine ambiguity that would
introduce. Promoted arguments, therefore, may not be typed callable either. Any
other type declaration is permitted, however.
Attributes placed on a
promoted constructor argument will be replicated to both the property
and argument.
Static creation methods
PHP only supports a single constructor per class. In some cases, however, it may be
desirable to allow an object to be constructed in different ways with different inputs.
The recommended way to do so is by using static methods as constructor wrappers.
Using static creation methods
id = $id;
$this->name = $name;
}
public static function fromBasicData(int $id, string $name): static {
$new = new static($id, $name);
return $new;
}
public static function fromJson(string $json): static {
$data = json_decode($json);
return new static($data['id'], $data['name']);
}
public static function fromXml(string $xml): static {
// Custom logic here.
$data = convert_xml_to_array($xml);
$new = new static();
$new->id = $data['id'];
$new->name = $data['name'];
return $new;
}
}
$p1 = Product::fromBasicData(5, 'Widget');
$p2 = Product::fromJson($some_json_string);
$p3 = Product::fromXml($some_xml_string);
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The constructor may be made private or protected to prevent it from being called externally.
If so, only a static method will be able to instantiate the class. Because they are in the
same class definition they have access to private methods, even if not of the same object
instance. The private constructor is optional and may or may not make sense depending on
the use case.
The three public static methods then demonstrate different ways of instantiating the object.
fromBasicData() takes the exact parameters that are needed, then creates the
object by calling the constructor and returning the result.fromJson() accepts a JSON string and does some pre-processing on it itself
to convert it into the format desired by the constructor. It then returns the new object.fromXml() accepts an XML string, preprocesses it, and then creates a bare
object. The constructor is still called, but as all of the parameters are optional the method
skips them. It then assigns values to the object properties directly before returning the result.
In all three cases, the static keyword is translated into the name of the class the code is in.
In this case, Product.
Destructorvoid__destruct
PHP possesses a destructor concept similar to that of other
object-oriented languages, such as C++. The destructor method will be
called as soon as there are no other references to a particular object,
or in any order during the shutdown sequence.
Destructor Example
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. Also like constructors, a child class may inherit the parent's
destructor if it does not implement one itself.
The destructor will be called even if script execution is stopped using
exit. Calling exit in a destructor
will prevent the remaining shutdown routines from executing.
Destructors called during the script shutdown have HTTP headers already
sent. The working directory in the script shutdown phase can be different
with some SAPIs (e.g. Apache).
Attempting to throw an exception from a destructor (called in the time of
script termination) causes a fatal error.