Question

I have classes like this one:

class SomeObject
{
    public function __construct($param1, $param2)
    {
       $this->process($param1, $param2);
    }
    ...
}

So I can instantly “call” it as some sort of global function just like

new SomeObject($arg1, $arg2);

which has the benefits of

• staying concise,
• being easy to understand,

but might break unwritten rules of semantics by not waiting till a method is called.

Should I continue to feel bad because of a bad practice, or there’s really nothing to worry about?

Clarification:

• I do want an instance of the class.
• I do use internal methods of the class only.
• I initialize the object in the constructor, but call the “important” action-taker methods too.
• I am selfish in the light of these sentences.

Example:

To give you an idea how I usually use this approach:

new Email('[e-mail]', 'Subject line', 'Body Text');

I avoid to overuse it, of course, but in my opinion, this is really handy.

Answer 1

if the code in the constructor is part of creating and initializing the object for use, then I would put it there, but thats me personally, some people may disagree

however, it looks like what you are doing is not intended for building the object/class but doing some other process. this is bad, and should be done in a separate method.

Keep the constructor for construction.