Question

This thing has been bugging me for long and I can’t find it anywhere!

What is the difference when using classes in php between :: and ->

Let me give an example.

Imagine a class named MyClass and in this class there is a function myFunction

What is the difference between using:

MyClass myclass = new MyClass
myclass::myFunction();

or

MyClass myclass = new MyClass
myclass->myFunction();

Thank you

Answer 1

as stated, “::” is for static method calls whereas “->” is for instance method calls

except for when using parent:: to access functions in a base class, where “parent::” can be used for both static and non-static parent methods

abstract class myParentClass
{
   public function foo()
   {
      echo "parent class";
   }
}

class myChildClass extends myParentClass
{
   public function bar()
   {
      echo "child class";
      parent::foo();
   }
}

$obj = new myChildClass();
$obj->bar();