Question

I have been searching for a while but I could not find the answer, what are the differences between these two ways of inicialize a variable class in PHP?:(if there are)

class MyClass
{
    private $myVariable='something';

    public function __construct()
    {

    }
}

class MyClass
{
    private $myVariable;

    public function __construct()
    {
        $this->myVariable='something';
    }
}

Answer 1

See this scenario:

class Parent {
    protected $property1; // Not set
    protected $property2 = '2'; // Set to 2
    public function __construct(){
        $this->property1 = '1'; // Set to 1
    }
} // class Parent;

class Child extends Parent {
    public function __construct(){
        // Child CHOOSES to call parent constructor
        parent::__construct(); // optional call (what if skipped)
        // but if he does not, ->property1 remains unset!
    }
} // class Child;

This is a difference between the two calls. parent::__construct() is optional for child classes that inherit from a parent. So:

• if you have scalar (as in is_scalar()) properties that need to be preset, do it in the class definition to be sure that they exist in child classes too.
• if you properties that depend on arguments or are optional, put them in the constructor.

It all depends on how you design your code’s functionality.

There’s no right of wrong here, it’s only what’s right for you.