Question

Im new to PHP Object Oriented Programming but I know to code in procedural way.

If this is my PHP Class

<?php
class person {
  var $name;
  function __construct($persons_name) {
   $this->name = $persons_name;
  }

  function get_name() {
     return $this->name;
  }
}
?>

and if I access it in my PHP page

$jane = new person("Jane Doe");
echo "Her name is : ".$jane->get_name();

Question:
Is it really necessary to put the var $name; in my PHP class since
I can correctly get an output of Her name is : Jane Doe even without the var $name; in my PHP class?

Answer 1

Semantically, you should, as $name is indeed an attribute of your class. Your constructor already assigns $persons_name to the attribute, but if you left the var $name; out, the rest of your script wouldn’t really know that there’s such an attribute in your class. Additionally if your constructor didn’t assign it right away, person::get_name() would attempt to retrieve an undeclared $name attribute and trigger a notice.

As Brenton Alker says, declaring your class attributes explicitly allows you to set their visibility. For instance, since you have get_name() as a getter for $name, you can set $name as private so a person’s name can’t be changed from outside the class after you create a person object.

Also, attempting to assign to undeclared class attributes causes them to be declared as public before being assigned.