Getter and Setter?

php oop coding-style
Mark picture Mark · Dec 18, 2010 · Viewed 233k times · Source

I'm not a PHP developer, so I'm wondering if in PHP is more popular to use explicit getter/setters, in a pure OOP style, with private fields (the way I like):

class MyClass {
    private $firstField;
    private $secondField;

    public function getFirstField() {
        return $this->firstField;
    }
    public function setFirstField($x) {
        $this->firstField = $x;
    }
    public function getSecondField() {
        return $this->secondField;
    }
    public function setSecondField($x) {
        $this->secondField = $x;
    }
}

or just public fields:

class MyClass {
    public $firstField;
    public $secondField;
}

Thanks

Answer

Davis Peixoto picture Davis Peixoto · Dec 18, 2010

You can use php magic methods __get and __set.

<?php
class MyClass {
  private $firstField;
  private $secondField;

  public function __get($property) {
    if (property_exists($this, $property)) {
      return $this->$property;
    }
  }

  public function __set($property, $value) {
    if (property_exists($this, $property)) {
      $this->$property = $value;
    }

    return $this;
  }
}
?>

Related questions

When to use self over $this?

In PHP 5, what is the difference between using self and $this? When is each appropriate?

Read More
What is the difference between public, private, and protected?

When and why should I use public, private, and protected functions and variables inside a class? What is the difference between them? Examples: // Public public $variable; public function doSomething() { // ... } // Private private $variable; private function doSomething() { // ... } // Protected protected $variable; protected function …

Read More
How do I get a PHP class constructor to call its parent's parent's constructor?

I need to have a class constructor in PHP call its parent's parent's (grandparent?) constructor without calling the parent constructor. // main class that everything inherits class Grandpa { public function __construct() { } } class Papa extends Grandpa { public function __construct() { // call Grandpa's constructor …

Read More