Is it OK (good practice OOP wise) to make a class implement a certain interface so that a trait being used in that class can access the classes functions.
I found a SO question a few days ago with an answer explaining that traits shouldn't use methods/things from the class it's being used in. What If I made a class implement an interface so it had to have those functions that the trait uses from the class? Would that be OK. I'm taking an OOP class in university next year, so I only learned what OOP I did from the internet, in case this is a bad question. :p
So here's the idea to clarify (in PHP)
trait MyTrait {
public function foo() {
return $this->bar(); // bar is in the class the trait is to be used in
}
}
class MyClass implements MyTraitCompatible {
public function bar() {
return "BAR!";
}
}
interface MyTraitCompatible {
public function bar();
}
Also, is there anyway to enforce that a class needs to implement MyTraitCompatible to use MyTrait?
Edit: (My actual goal is to have one function used in two classes that both extend another class (Eloquent) and would be completely identical but the function would not be used in all classes extending Eloquent - this is one way I thought of doing it.)
One option is that your trait could check that the class using it implements the interface you expect. Here's an example in the constructor method:
trait MyTrait {
public function __construct() {
if (!in_array('MyTraitCompatible', class_implements($this, false))) {
throw new Exception('To use this trait you must implement MyTraitCompatible!');
}
}
public function foo() {
return $this->bar(); // bar is in the class the trait is to be used in
}
}
A valid class would be:
class MyClass implements MyTraitCompatible {
use MyTrait;
public function bar() {
return "BAR!";
}
}
An invalid class would be:
class InvalidClass {
use MyTrait;
public function baz() {
return "I don't think so buddy.";
}
}
Obviously if the class using this trait has a constructor already then this would conflict. There isn't a pretty way to avoid this since the class using the trait will have precedence over the trait and would just override it. One option is that you could define a check method in the trait and call it from the methods in the trait to check compatibility, but it's not ideal:
trait MyTrait {
protected function compatible() {
if (!in_array('MyTraitCompatible', class_implements($this, false))) {
throw new Exception('To use this trait you must implement MyTraitCompatible!');
}
var_dump('Passed the test!');
}
public function foo() {
$this->compatible();
return $this->bar(); // bar is in the class the trait is to be used in
}
}
You could also replace that compatible() method with the __call() magic method - but again, you might run into conflicts if you have one defined elsewhere.
When defining the structure and inheriting Interface and/or Abstract Class, which one is the best practice? And why? Here are 2 examples:
Here is the example for [Interface] -> [Abstract Class] -> [Class]
Interface DataInterface
{
public function __construct($connection);
public function connected();
public function get();
}
Abstract class BaseData implements DataInterface
{
protected $connection;
public function __construct($connection)
{
$this->connection = $connection;
}
}
class UserData extends BaseData
{
public function exists()
{
return is_connected($this->connection);
}
public function get()
{
return get_data($this->connection);
}
}
$oUserData = new UserData(new Connection());
And here is the sample for [Abstract Class] -> [Class] without the Interface
Abstract class BaseData
{
protected $connection;
public function __construct($connection)
{
$this->connection = $connection;
}
abstract public function connected();
abstract public function get();
}
class UserData extends BaseData
{
public function exists()
{
return is_connected($this->connection);
}
public function get()
{
return get_data($this->connection);
}
}
$oUserData = new UserData(new Connection());
I am currently creating a small app (might grow larger) and confused on how to implement in the beginning correctly.
By the way, is this declaration for __construct() with parameter make sense in Interface?
public function __construct($connection);
Abstract classes defines an interface that must be implemented to the heirs of the abstract class. An Interface-Construct defines an interface that must be implemented by a class that implements the interface-construct, the implementation of the interface is not limited to a single interface, whereas class inheritance is coupled to a single (abstract) class.
Interfaces in PHP are intentionally used to allow typehints of an limited subset of an entire class interface. There is no reason for an interface on abstract classes aslong their receiver of instances of their heirs did not use them ( with typehinting or logical identification over instanceof / is_a ). The more valuable benefit of interface-constructs are the possibility of replacing an common implementation of an interfaces with a alternate implementation.
In case of your BaseData-Example, i recommend to drop the abstract idea and use a trait and seperate interfaces instead.
trait connectionBrokerConstructor {
protected $connection;
public function isConnected()
{
return $this->connection instanceof Connection;
}
public function setConnection(Connection $connection)
{
$this->connection = $connection;
}
}
interface connectable
{
public function setConnection(Connection $connection);
public function isConnected();
}
interface userDataRepositoryInterface
{
public function get();
}
class UserData implements connectable, userDataRepositoryInterface
{
use connectionBrokerConstructor;
public function __construct(Connection $connect = null)
{
$this->setConnection($connection);
}
public function get()
{
return array('something');
}
}
Really abstract classes and interfaces are different.
Consider an interface as a contract, it lays out the rules that other classes (which implement it) must follow.
Abstract classes on the other hand are more like starting points, which other classes can build on, hence why they are sometimes called base classes.
------- Edit with example
I'm not an expert on such things, but I've always just done interface -> class.
For example, here is a simple interface:
interface AnimalInterface {
public function all();
public function findBySlug($slug);
}
And here is the class which implements that interface (simplified):
class AnimalEloquentRepository implements AnimalInterface {
public function all()
{
return Animal::all();
}
public function findBySlug($slug)
{
return Animal::whereSlug($slug)->first();
}
}
I do often have a base class, which others extend, but I've only once used an abstract class in a real world app, and that ended up getting replaced.
I'm sure there are better ways to do things, but this has worked really well for me in the past.
My reputation doesn't allow comments, but this statement in tr0y's answer is misleading:
"Abstract classes defines an interface that must be implemented to the heirs of the abstract class."
One of the main differences between an interface and an abstract class is that you are not required to implement any of the methods of an abstract class in a class that extends it. It's quite common for the abstract class to have methods with default behavior and only provide those methods in the heirs if the default behavior is not what you want.
On the other hand, you are require to create all methods specified in an interface in any class that implements that interface.
Another difference is that methods in an interface cannot have a body, while methods in an abstract class must have a body.
In other OO languages like Java we can override a function, possible using keywords/annotations like implements, #override etc.
Is there a way to do so in PHP? I mean, for example:
class myClass {
public static function reImplmentThis() { //this method should be overriden by user
}
}
I want user to implement their own myClass::reImplementThis() method.
How can I do that in PHP? If it is possible, can I make it optional?
I mean, if the user is not implementing the method, can I specify a default method or can I identify that the method is not defined (can I do this using method_exists)?
<?php
abstract class Test
{
abstract protected function test();
protected function anotherTest() {
}
}
class TestTest extends Test
{
protected function test() {
}
}
$test = new TestTest();
?>
This way the class TestTest must override the function test.
Yes, there is. You have the option to override a method by extending the class and defining a method with the same name, function signature and access specifier (either public or protected) it had in the base class. The method should not be declared abstract in the base class or you will be required to implement it in the derived class. In you example it would look something like this:
class MyClass {
public static function reImplmentThis() { //this method should be overriden by user
}
}
class MyDerivedClass extends MyClass {
public static function reImplmentThis() { //the method you want to call
}
}
If the user does not overrides it, MyDerivedClass will still have a reImplmentThis() method, the one inherited from MyClass.
That said, you need to be very careful when invoking extended static methods from your derived class to stay out of trouble. I encourage you to refactor your code to extend instance methods unless you have a very specific need to extend static classes. And if you decide there is no better way than extending static classes please be sure to understand Late Static Binding pretty well.
Yes, its possible to check if the method is implemented or not and get a whole lot more of information about a class using PHP Reflection.
This touches on several OOP subjects.
First, simply overriding an method declared in a parent class is as simple as re-declaring the method in an inheriting class.
E.g:
class Person {
public function greet(string $whom) {
echo "hello $whom!";
}
}
class Tommy extends Person {
public function greet(string $whom = "everyone") {
echo "Howdy $whom! How are you?";
}
}
$a = new Tommy();
$a->greet('World');
// outputs:
// Howdy World! How are you?
If on the overriding method you wan to reuse the logic of the overriden one, it's just a matter of calling the parent's method from the extending class::
class Tommy
{
public function greet(string $whom)
{
// now with more emphasis!!!
echo parent::greet(strtoupper($whom)) . "!!!!";
}
}
Now Tommy::greet() calls Person::greet(), but modifies the result before returning it.
One thing to note is that overriding methods have to be compatible with the overriden one: the method visibility can't be more restrictive than the original one (it's OK to increase visibility), and the number and type of required arguments can't conflict with the original delcaration.
This works, because the type of the arguments does not clash with the original, and we have less required arguments than on the parent:
class Leo extends Person {
public function greet(string $whom = "gorgeous", string $greet = "Whatsup" ) {
echo "$greet $whom. How are you?";
}
}
But this doesn't, since there are additional required arguments. This would make impossible to switch the original class for this one transparently, and thus would throw a Warning:
class BadBob extends Person {
public function greet(string $whom, string $greet ) {
echo "$greet $whom. How are you?";
}
}
Additionally, you mention in your question that "this method should be overriden by the user". If you require client classes to actually implement the method, you have a couple of options:
Abstract classes & methods
These are methods where the implementation is left empty, and that extending classes have to implement to be valid. In we changed our original class Person to:
abstract class Person {
public function greet(string $whom) {
echo "hello $whom!";
}
public abstract function hide();
}
Since now the class contains an abstract method, it needs to be declared as an abstract class as well.
Now it is not possible to instantiate Person directly, you can only extend it in other classes.
Now all our existing Person extending classes would be wrong, and trying to execute the previous code would throw a fatal error.
An example of a valid class extending Person now would be:
class Archie extends Person {
public function hide() {
echo "Hides behind a bush";
}
}
Any class that extends Person must declare a public hide() method.
Interfaces
Finally, you mention interfaces. Interfaces are contracts that implementing classes have to fulfill. They declare a group of public methods without an implementation body.
E.g.:
interface Policeman {
public function arrest(Person $person) : bool;
public function help($what): bool;
}
Now we could have class that extended Person and implemented Policeman:
class Jane extends Person implements Policeman {
public function hide() {
echo "Jane hides in her patrol-car";
}
public function arrest(Person $person): bool{
// implement arrest method
return false;
}
public function shoot($what): bool {
// implements shoot() method
return false;
}
}
Importantly, while it's possible to extend only one class (there is no multiple inheritance in PHP), it is possible to implement multiple interfaces, and the requirements for each of those have to be fulfilled for the class to be valid.
In PHP, can I specify an interface to have fields, or are PHP interfaces limited to functions?
<?php
interface IFoo
{
public $field;
public function DoSomething();
public function DoSomethingElse();
}
?>
If not, I realize I can expose a getter as a function in the interface:
public GetField();
You cannot specify members. You have to indicate their presence through getters and setters, just like you did. However, you can specify constants:
interface IFoo
{
const foo = 'bar';
public function DoSomething();
}
See http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.interfaces.php
Late answer, but to get the functionality wanted here, you might want to consider an abstract class containing your fields. The abstract class would look like this:
abstract class Foo
{
public $member;
}
While you could still have the interface:
interface IFoo
{
public function someFunction();
}
Then you have your child class like this:
class bar extends Foo implements IFoo
{
public function __construct($memberValue = "")
{
// Set the value of the member from the abstract class
$this->member = $memberValue;
}
public function someFunction()
{
// Echo the member from the abstract class
echo $this->member;
}
}
There's an alternative solution for those still curious and interested. :)
Use getter setter. But this might be tedious to implement many getters and setters in many classes, and it clutter class code. And you repeat yourself!
As of PHP 5.4 you can use traits to provide fields and methods to classes, ie:
interface IFoo
{
public function DoSomething();
public function DoSomethingElse();
public function setField($value);
public function getField();
}
trait WithField
{
private $_field;
public function setField($value)
{
$this->_field = $value;
}
public function getField()
{
return $this->field;
}
}
class Bar implements IFoo
{
use WithField;
public function DoSomething()
{
echo $this->getField();
}
public function DoSomethingElse()
{
echo $this->setField('blah');
}
}
This is specially usefull if you have to inherit from some base class and need to implement some interface.
class CooCoo extends Bird implements IFoo
{
use WithField;
public function DoSomething()
{
echo $this->getField();
}
public function DoSomethingElse()
{
echo $this->setField('blah');
}
}
Interfaces are only designed to support methods.
This is because interfaces exist to provide a public API that can then be accessed by other objects.
Publicly accessible properties would actually violate encapsulation of data within the class that implements the interface.
You cannot specify properties in an interface : only methods are allowed (and make sense, as the goal of an interface is to specify an API)
In PHP, trying to define properties in an interface should raise a Fatal Error : this portion of code :
interface A {
public $test;
}
Will give you :
Fatal error: Interfaces may not include member variables in...
If I have several classes with functions that I need but want to store separately for organisation, can I extend a class to have both?
i.e. class a extends b extends c
edit: I know how to extend classes one at a time, but I'm looking for a method to instantly extend a class using multiple base classes - AFAIK you can't do this in PHP but there should be ways around it without resorting to class c extends b, class b extends a
If you really want to fake multiple inheritance in PHP 5.3, you can use the magic function __call().
This is ugly though it works from class A user's point of view :
class B {
public function method_from_b($s) {
echo $s;
}
}
class C {
public function method_from_c($s) {
echo $s;
}
}
class A extends B
{
private $c;
public function __construct()
{
$this->c = new C;
}
// fake "extends C" using magic function
public function __call($method, $args)
{
$this->c->$method($args[0]);
}
}
$a = new A;
$a->method_from_b("abc");
$a->method_from_c("def");
Prints "abcdef"
You cannot have a class that extends two base classes. You could not have the following:
// this is NOT allowed (for all you google speeders)
Matron extends Nurse, HumanEntity
You could however have a hierarchy as follows...
Matron extends Nurse
Consultant extends Doctor
Nurse extends HumanEntity
Doctor extends HumanEntity
HumanEntity extends DatabaseTable
DatabaseTable extends AbstractTable
and so on.
You could use traits, which, hopefully, will be available from PHP 5.4.
Traits is a mechanism for code reuse in single inheritance languages such as PHP. A Trait is intended to reduce some limitations of single inheritance by enabling a developer to reuse sets of methods freely in several independent classes living in different class hierarchies. The semantics of the combination of Traits and classes is defined in a way, which reduces complexity and avoids the typical problems associated with multiple inheritance and Mixins.
They are recognized for their potential in supporting better composition and reuse, hence their integration in newer versions of languages such as Perl 6, Squeak, Scala, Slate and Fortress. Traits have also been ported to Java and C#.
More information: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/traits
Classes are not meant to be just collections of methods. A class is supposed to represent an abstract concept, with both state (fields) and behaviour (methods) which changes the state. Using inheritance just to get some desired behaviour sounds like bad OO design, and exactly the reason why many languages disallow multiple inheritance: in order to prevent "spaghetti inheritance", i.e. extending 3 classes because each has a method you need, and ending up with a class that inherits 100 method and 20 fields, yet only ever uses 5 of them.
There are plans for adding mix-ins soon, I believe.
But until then, go with the accepted answer. You can abstract that out a bit to make an "extendable" class:
class Extendable{
private $extender=array();
public function addExtender(Extender $obj){
$this->extenders[] = $obj;
$obj->setExtendee($this);
}
public function __call($name, $params){
foreach($this->extenders as $extender){
//do reflection to see if extender has this method with this argument count
if (method_exists($extender, $name)){
return call_user_func_array(array($extender, $name), $params);
}
}
}
}
$foo = new Extendable();
$foo->addExtender(new OtherClass());
$foo->other_class_method();
Note that in this model "OtherClass" gets to 'know' about $foo. OtherClass needs to have a public function called "setExtendee" to set up this relationship. Then, if it's methods are invoked from $foo, it can access $foo internally. It will not, however, get access to any private/protected methods/variables like a real extended class would.
Use traits as base classes. Then use them in a parent class. Extend it .
trait business{
function sell(){
}
function buy(){
}
function collectMoney(){
}
}
trait human{
function think(){
}
function speak(){
}
}
class BusinessPerson{
use business;
use human;
// If you have more traits bring more
}
class BusinessWoman extends BusinessPerson{
function getPregnant(){
}
}
$bw = new BusinessWoman();
$bw ->speak();
$bw->getPregnant();
See now business woman logically inherited business and human both;
EDIT: 2020 PHP 5.4+ and 7+
As of PHP 5.4.0 there are "Traits" - you can use more traits in one class, so the final deciding point would be whether you want really an inheritance or you just need some "feature"(trait). Trait is, vaguely said, an already implemented interface that is meant to be just used.
Currently accepted answer by #Franck will work but it is not in fact multiple inheritance but a child instance of class defined out of scope, also there is the `__call()` shorthand - consider using just `$this->childInstance->method(args)` anywhere you need ExternalClass class method in "extended" class.
Exact answer
No you can't, respectively, not really, as manual of extends keyword says:
An extended class is always dependent on a single base class, that is,
multiple inheritance is not supported.
Real answer
However as #adam suggested correctly this does NOT forbids you to use multiple hierarchal inheritance.
You CAN extend one class, with another and another with another and so on...
So pretty simple example on this would be:
class firstInheritance{}
class secondInheritance extends firstInheritance{}
class someFinalClass extends secondInheritance{}
//...and so on...
Important note
As you might have noticed, you can only do multiple(2+) intehritance by hierarchy if you have control over all classes included in the process - that means, you can't apply this solution e.g. with built-in classes or with classes you simply can't edit - if you want to do that, you are left with the #Franck solution - child instances.
...And finally example with some output:
class A{
function a_hi(){
echo "I am a of A".PHP_EOL."<br>".PHP_EOL;
}
}
class B extends A{
function b_hi(){
echo "I am b of B".PHP_EOL."<br>".PHP_EOL;
}
}
class C extends B{
function c_hi(){
echo "I am c of C".PHP_EOL."<br>".PHP_EOL;
}
}
$myTestInstance = new C();
$myTestInstance->a_hi();
$myTestInstance->b_hi();
$myTestInstance->c_hi();
Which outputs
I am a of A
I am b of B
I am c of C
<?php
// what if we want to extend more than one class?
abstract class ExtensionBridge
{
// array containing all the extended classes
private $_exts = array();
public $_this;
function __construct() {$_this = $this;}
public function addExt($object)
{
$this->_exts[]=$object;
}
public function __get($varname)
{
foreach($this->_exts as $ext)
{
if(property_exists($ext,$varname))
return $ext->$varname;
}
}
public function __call($method,$args)
{
foreach($this->_exts as $ext)
{
if(method_exists($ext,$method))
return call_user_method_array($method,$ext,$args);
}
throw new Exception("This Method {$method} doesn't exists");
}
}
class Ext1
{
private $name="";
private $id="";
public function setID($id){$this->id = $id;}
public function setName($name){$this->name = $name;}
public function getID(){return $this->id;}
public function getName(){return $this->name;}
}
class Ext2
{
private $address="";
private $country="";
public function setAddress($address){$this->address = $address;}
public function setCountry($country){$this->country = $country;}
public function getAddress(){return $this->address;}
public function getCountry(){return $this->country;}
}
class Extender extends ExtensionBridge
{
function __construct()
{
parent::addExt(new Ext1());
parent::addExt(new Ext2());
}
public function __toString()
{
return $this->getName().', from: '.$this->getCountry();
}
}
$o = new Extender();
$o->setName("Mahdi");
$o->setCountry("Al-Ahwaz");
echo $o;
?>
I have read several articles discouraging inheritance in projects (as opposed to libraries/frameworks), and encouraging to program agaisnt interfaces, no against implementations.
They also advocate OO by composition: if you need the functions in class a and b, make c having members/fields of this type:
class C
{
private $a, $b;
public function __construct($x, $y)
{
$this->a = new A(42, $x);
$this->b = new B($y);
}
protected function DoSomething()
{
$this->a->Act();
$this->b->Do();
}
}
Multiple inheritance seems to work at the interface level.
I made a test on php 5.6.1.
Here is a working code:
<?php
interface Animal
{
public function sayHello();
}
interface HairyThing
{
public function plush();
}
interface Dog extends Animal, HairyThing
{
public function bark();
}
class Puppy implements Dog
{
public function bark()
{
echo "ouaf";
}
public function sayHello()
{
echo "hello";
}
public function plush()
{
echo "plush";
}
}
echo PHP_VERSION; // 5.6.1
$o = new Puppy();
$o->bark();
$o->plush();
$o->sayHello(); // displays: 5.6.16ouafplushhello
I didn't think that was possible, but I stumbled upon in the SwiftMailer source code, in the Swift_Transport_IoBuffer class, which has the following definition:
interface Swift_Transport_IoBuffer extends Swift_InputByteStream, Swift_OutputByteStream
I didn't play with it yet, but I thought it might be interesting to share.
I just solved my "multiple inheritance" problem with:
class Session {
public $username;
}
class MyServiceResponsetype {
protected $only_avaliable_in_response;
}
class SessionResponse extends MyServiceResponsetype {
/** has shared $only_avaliable_in_response */
public $session;
public function __construct(Session $session) {
$this->session = $session;
}
}
This way I have the power to manipulate session inside a SessionResponse which extends MyServiceResponsetype still being able to handle Session by itself.
If you want to check if a function is public see this topic : https://stackoverflow.com/a/4160928/2226755
And use call_user_func_array(...) method for many or not arguments.
Like this :
class B {
public function method_from_b($s) {
echo $s;
}
}
class C {
public function method_from_c($l, $l1, $l2) {
echo $l.$l1.$l2;
}
}
class A extends B {
private $c;
public function __construct() {
$this->c = new C;
}
public function __call($method, $args) {
if (method_exists($this->c, $method)) {
$reflection = new ReflectionMethod($this->c, $method);
if (!$reflection->isPublic()) {
throw new RuntimeException("Call to not public method ".get_class($this)."::$method()");
}
return call_user_func_array(array($this->c, $method), $args);
} else {
throw new RuntimeException("Call to undefined method ".get_class($this)."::$method()");
}
}
}
$a = new A;
$a->method_from_b("abc");
$a->method_from_c("d", "e", "f");
You are able to do that using Traits in PHP which announced as of PHP 5.4
Here is a quick tutorial for you, http://culttt.com/2014/06/25/php-traits/
One of the problems of PHP as a programming language is the fact that you can only have single inheritance. This means a class can only inherit from one other class.
However, a lot of the time it would be beneficial to inherit from multiple classes. For example, it might be desirable to inherit methods from a couple of different classes in order to prevent code duplication.
This problem can lead to class that has a long family history of inheritance which often does not make sense.
In PHP 5.4 a new feature of the language was added known as Traits. A Trait is kind of like a Mixin in that it allows you to mix Trait classes into an existing class. This means you can reduce code duplication and get the benefits whilst avoiding the problems of multiple inheritance.
Traits
PHP does not yet support multiple class inheritance, it does however support multiple interface inheritance.
See http://www.hudzilla.org/php/6_17_0.php for some examples.
PHP does not allow multiple inheritance, but you can do with implementing multiple interfaces. If the implementation is "heavy", provide skeletal implementation for each interface in a seperate class. Then, you can delegate all interface class to these skeletal implementations via object containment.
Always good idea is to make parent class, with functions ... i.e. add this all functionality to parent.
And "move" all classes that use this hierarchically down. I need - rewrite functions, which are specific.
class A extends B {}
class B extends C {}
Then A has extended both B and C