Question

I’m trying to write a simple class:

class tempClass 
{
    private $myvar          = null;

    function __construct()
    {
        $this->myvar    = 'temp';
        var_dump($this->myvar);
    }  

    public function getmyvar(){
        return $this->myvar;
    }
}   

When I call the getmyvar() public function from a page I’m including this class on (using the syntax tempClass::getmyvar();), shouldn’t the __construct() method get called automatically before I can access the public function? It doesn’t seem to– I have to do something like:

$myclass = new tempClass();
$myclass->getmyvar();

in order to have the constructor called. Is there a way to “autoconstruct” this class when calling a class function, rather than having to do the __construct code within every function?

Thanks!

Answer 1

The constructor is called when the object instance is “constructed.” In other words, it happens when the instance is created.

When you execute this line:

$myclass = new tempClass();

a new object is instantiated, and the constructor is executed.

When you use :: no object is instantiated, so the constructor is not called.