Question

I know this is probably subjective but I read this optimization page from Google for PHP and they suggest use the variable property directly without the need of getters and setters. Understandably I see the performance gain in this but is this really a good design practice to follow?

Their Example using getter/setter:

class dog {
  public $name = '';

  public function setName($name) {
    $this->name = $name;
  }

  public function getName() {
    return $this->name;
  }
}

$rover = new dog();
$rover->setName('rover');
echo $rover->getName();

Suggested Optimization:

$rover = new dog();
$rover->name = 'rover';
echo $rover->name;

This would be a welcome change in my design process as I see the need for getters/setters going away, but what other hurdles/benefits might occur in doing this?

Answer 1

A boilerplate answer, I’m afraid but I would suggest the following:
If you have no encapsulation problems for your class (enforcing business logic, etc.) by exposing this property to other users, it is perfectly ok to do so.