The PHP Object

Daryl K Wood
@datashuttle |
www.datashuttle.netwww.linkedin.com/in/datashuttle
The PHP Object
The PHP Object

The object and the object data type

Instantiating an object from a class
Working with object property values
Calling object methods
Using constants to our advantage
Best practices
 The Object

What is an object
The object data type
Why use an object
What Is an Object?

A container of information
A representation of something
The Object Data Type

The “object” data type

A compound data type
Why Use an Object
To represent a collection of
common and similar data values
Allow for easy business modeling
To provide single and multiple use
containers for reusable code
To simplify management of
complex software
More scalable and allows for easier
automated testing
The PHP Object Summary

The PHP object

The object data type
Why use objects and object-oriented
programming
Object Creation and Destruction

How to create an object

How to destroy an object
How to Create an Object

The “new” keyword

The “clone” keyword
$form = new Form(); or
$form = new Form;

Creating with the New Keyword

The class name reference can include parenthesis or not.
Best Practice: Variable name starts with lower case letter or underscore, followed by
camel-cased characters.
IDE place holder
$form = new Form();
$anotherForm = clone $form; // not
$anotherForm = $form; // Reference by default

Duplicating with the Clone Keyword

The clone keyword will duplicate an object including all the original member
properties, methods and constants.
Objects are passed by default without the clone keyword.
Best Practice: Only clone another object if change to object properties is necessary.
IDE place holder
How to Destroy an Object

Using unset() PHP function

Assigning a “null” value
At application termination
$form = new Form();
unset($form); or
$form = null;

Destroy an Object
Destroy an object with unset or re-assigning the object to null.
Explicitly destroying an object is only necessary if required by an application.
Note: an object is destroyed automatically at successful run-time termination.
IDE place holder
The PHP Object Summary

Instantiate an object with “new”

Using “clone” to duplicate an object
How to delete an object
Object Properties
Obtaining Object Properties

Direct Access
Via a getter method
Using $this within class scope
Obtaining an Object Property

Direct access
Via a getter method
Via reference to $this within
$form = new Form();
$name = $form->name;

Obtaining an Object Property via Direct Access

Obtain the object property with a “->” and assign to a local variable.
IDE place holder
Obtaining Object Properties Summary

Obtain properties by one of three

methods
Through direct access
Using a getter method
Internally referencing with $this
Changing Object Properties

Through reassignment
Via a setter method
Using $this within class scope
Changing an Object Property

Through re-assignment
Via a setter method
Via reference to $this within
$form = new Form();
$form->name = 'Login';

Changing an Object Property Through Re-assignment

This technique is just like assigning a standard PHP variable, but with object syntax.
Note: In this syntax, do not prefix the dollar sign ($) to the property name as it is an
explicit “name” property..
IDE place holder
$form = new Form();
$form->setName('login'); //or
$form->set('name', 'login'); //via parameters

Changing an Object Property via a Setter Method

This technique assumes the method names are defined in the class.
Note: The set method call passes two parameters and assumes a generic set method
written to accept two parameters.
IDE place holder
class Form {
Public function setName($value){
$this->name = $value;
}
}

Changing an Object Property via Reference to $this

This technique changes an explicit member property within a member method.
Note: The dollar sign ($) is prefixed to the property reference here as it refers to the
property parameter.
IDE place holder
Changing Object Properties Summary

Changing object properties by one of

three methods
Through direct access
Using a setter method
Internally referencing with $this
Creating New Object Properties

Through reassignment
Via a setter method
Using $this within class scope
Creating a New Object Property

Through assignment
Via a setter method
Via reference to $this within
$form = new Form();
$form->id = 'formId';

Creating a New Object Property

This technique assigns a property that did not initially exist in the class declaration.
Note: In this syntax, do not prefix the dollar sign ($) to the property name as it is an
explicit “id” property.
class Form {
Public function set($property, $value){
$this->$property = $value;
}
}

Changing an Object Property via Reference to $this

This technique changes a member property within another member method.
Note: The dollar sign ($) is prefixed to the property reference here as it refers to the
property parameter.
IDE place holder
Creating New Object Properties Summary

Creating new object properties by one of

three methods
Through direct access
Using a setter method
Internally referencing with $this
Destroying Object Properties

Through reassignment
Via a setter method
Using $this within class scope
Destroying an Object Property

Using the PHP unset() function

Via a setter method
Via reference to $this within
$form = new Form();
$form->name = 'login';
unset($form->name);

Destroying an Object Property Using unset()

This technique destroys the name property value.
Note: If the property was declared within the class, then the property is set to null and
can be reassigned. The class property declaration remains after using unset().
IDE place holder
$form = new Form();
$form->set('name');

Destroying an Object Property via a Setter Method

This technique destroys a member property from a generic set() method. It is
assumed a second parameter for the set() method is declared with an optional second
parameter set to null.
IDE place holder
class Form {
Public function set($property, $value = null){
$this->$property = $value;
}
}

Destroying an Object Property via Reference to $this

Note: This set() method has a second parameter set to null by default.
IDE place holder
Destroying Object Properties Summary

Destroying object properties by one of

three methods
Through assignment
Using a setter method
Internally referencing with $this
Object Methods
Object Methods

Calling an object method

Returning values
Setters (mutators) and getters (accessors)
and more
Adding new methods as needed
Calling an Object Method

Direct call from the object

From within using $this
$form = new Form();
$form->setName('login');

Calling an Object Method Directly

This technique calls a declared method from the object.
Note: The called method has to be declared within the class, unless using a magic
method. If the method is not declared, and a magic method is not used, then a
warning is issued.
IDE place holder
class Form {
Public function setFormArguments($args){
$this->setId($args['id']);
}
Public function setId($id){$this->id = $id;}
}

Calling an Object Method from Within via Reference to $this

This technique delegates setting form tag arguments to dedicated methods.
IDE place holder
Other Method Techniques
Other Method Techniques

Returning Values
Setters and getters
Chaining methods
Returning Values

Returning null
Returning boolean
Returning values
class Form {
Public function getName(){
return $this->name ?: false;
}
}

Returning Values from Object Methods

Just like functions, object methods return null if not explicitly used. Use the return
keyword if needed.
Returning boolean is appropriate if testing at call time for method success is required.
Setters and Getters

Setters (mutators)
Getters (accessors)
Setters/Getters
Method Chaining

Returning $this
Simplifies multiple actions
class Form {
Public function setName($name){
$this->name($name);
return $this;
}
}

Chaining Object Methods

Chaining object methods helps to reduce the amount of coding required to set or
execute multiple method actions in sequence.
IDE place holder
Method Techniques Summary

Returning nulls, values or booleans

Getters/Setters
Method chaining
Object Constants
Object Constants

Scope relevance
Common use case
Declared within the class prior to run time
Scope Relevance

Within the class as declared

Available if sub classed
Protected from global naming
collisions
class Form {
Const BASE_PATH = '/var/www/log/mysite.com';
Public function logger($data){
file_put_contents(self::BASE_PATH . 'log.txt, $data);
}
}

Class Constants
Available within the class scope.
Protected from global scope naming collisions.
Common Use Case

As a class level reference

As a static reference
IDE place holder
Object Constants Summary

Scope relevance
Common use case