Question

The class_alias function seems to load the class into memory immediately when the statement executes instead of the first time the class is actually used. Is it possible / recommended to setup some kind of lazy loading mechanism for class aliases?

For instance, perhaps store the the aliases in an array, and in an __autoload function check that array and define the alias when the class is actually used.

Answer 1

The simple answer is to not use the function to alias classes, but use the use construct:

<?php
namespace foo\bar;
use \some\other\class\name as name;

$foo = new name();

That will be lazy loaded.