All strings and Array as an Object PHP - php

Question

I want to use all strings and array as an object where we can add our functions.
<?php
// Str class
class Str {
private $str;
public function __construct($str) {
$this->str = $str;
}
public function len() {
return strlen($this->str);
}
public function md5() {
return new static(md5($this->str));
}
public function __toString() {
return $this->str;
}
}
// to cast string into str object
function str($str) {
return new Str($str);
}
// casting string to str object
$str = str("Hello World");
echo $str;
// output: Hello World
echo $str->len();
// output: 11
echo $str->md5()->md5();
// output double md5 of string 'Hello World'
I want to know if it is a good idea to implement this in my high end application. I will add all string functions with my own custom functions to this Str class.
Will it consume too much memory?
Will I encounter any performance issues?

Answer 1

Interesting idea. Resembles JavaScript's String function/object/constructor due to the prototype methods. I've done similar stuff in the past and it didn't have any memory or performance issues. You might want to take advantage of magic methods such as __toString() (which I see you're already doing), as well as __call() and __callStatic(). Also a good idea to add implements Serializable. With some cleverness, you can have a pretty functional class. Although I'd sooner use a string literal since such an implementation wouldn't really offer anything functionality-wise. But if you can think-up a useful implementation, perhaps to build some sort of JavaScript engine, you can start with a top-most class maybe JSObject, then rename your class to maybe JSString and extend it, and also have JSArray and JSDate etc. I'd be interested if you can implement a JavaScript-like environment, with inheritance and all, in PHP. Sounds like a fun side-project to work on, but I can't really think of a practical usage for it. But in terms of expanding your PHP knowledge, and mastering it, I think it's a good learning opportunity to see for yourself PHP's limitations. Push PHP's limitations to the limit and you might learn something. If you decide to go this route, there's 2 more magic methods you can have a load of fun with. __get() and __set(). This way you can just call, for example, $myString->length or $myObject->key="value" and have it stored into an internal array allowing you to easily preform manipulations on the data whenever it changes etc. Just make sure to define a __isset() method if you decide to define dynamic properties. See also: http://php.net/manual/en/reserved.interfaces.php
Edit:
Perhaps a useful implementation would be the ability to define a hierarchy structure such as how many sites have to manage categories/subcategories and the number of products in each category. Such an implementation would allow you to easily define such a hierarchy structure without having to worry about children or number of children or grandchildren etc. But even still, not so practical since I'd sooner just use recursive function to walk such a hierarchy structure. Perhaps a more practical implementation would be an HTML parser of some sort. But this is re-inventing the wheel, although good practice. What I do know, though, is that many PHP frameworks out there take advantage of the above-mentioned features to implement MVC environments. So if you think you can build a better framework than ones already existing, or some other related environment aimed at coders, perhaps that would be the most practical implementation of the above mentioned features.

Answer 2

No,it will not consume too much memory.Also,you don't get any performance issues instead of its reusable across your application.