Question

Is it “better” to instantiate objects as needed or right in the beginning of the code? Note in the examples one may not need the functionality of obj2.

obj1 = new Object1();
obj2 = new Object2();

obj1->run;

//lots of code

if (condition) {
    obj2->doThis();
}

OR

obj1 = new Object1();
obj1->run;

//lots of code

if (condition) {
    obj2 = new Object2();
    obj2->doThis();
}

Answer 1

Just 2 rules

1. Do not instantiate any object if it’s not needed.
2. Instantiate just before you need it. And destruct when it’s not needed any more.

Unnecessary object creation consumes more memory and makes program run slower. For small projects it’ll not make any significant performance difference. But for big projects or long time running Cron it becomes performance issue.