Access Static properties using PHP object

Question

This is with reference to Get a static property of an instance, I am a newbie and have the following code :

class Foo
{
   public static $my_static = 1;
}

class Bar extends Foo
{

}

$foo = new Foo();
$boo = new Bar();

echo Foo::$my_static;  // ok
echo Bar::$my_static;  // ok
echo $foo::$my_static; // ok
echo $boo::$my_static; // ok

Static variables/properties are accessed only as ClassName::static_property as in C++, but it is not the case in PHP... but PHP books mostly mention the className::static_property pattern, not the object::static_property construct. Need more light on this..

also, from inside a class you may use self::$my_static or static::$my_static (see late static bindings for the static:: usage (since PHP 5.3) — Carlos Campderrós
– Carlos Campderrós, Commented Jun 14, 2013 at 11:55
check this link it may help... php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.static.php — Muhammad Saqlain Arif
– Muhammad Saqlain Arif, Commented Jun 14, 2013 at 12:03

Robert · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-14 11:56:52Z

26

Static properties may be accessed on various ways.

Class::$aStaticProp; //by class name

$classname::$aStaticProp; // As of PHP 5.3.0 by object instance

Static properties cannot be accessed through the object using the arrow operator ->.

As of PHP 5.3.0, it's possible to reference the class using a variable. The variable's value can not be a keyword (e.g. self, parent and static).

Comments

deceze · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-14 11:55:18Z

12

$instance::$staticProperty is simply a convenience shorthand for Class::$staticProperty. Since you already have an instance of a class and the syntax is unambiguous, PHP saves you from writing a potentially long class name. There's no functional difference.

answered Jun 14, 2013 at 11:55

deceze♦

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4 Comments

BLaZuRE Over a year ago

I do have a followup annoyance, since I'm a bit in disbelief that this works: $instance::$staticProperty does not make sense to me. The static property belongs to the class, not the object. Why does the interpreter allow this to slide for 'convenience'?

Robert Over a year ago

Sometimes when you hold name of classes in strings and you're doing dynamic operations of them it's very useful.

BLaZuRE Over a year ago

@Robert I guess it should make sense to me because PHP isn't the strictest of languages, but you could simply use get_class() to get the object's class name.

deceze Over a year ago

@BLaZuRE $foo::$bar → "Get the static property $bar of the class $foo is an instance of." It's just syntactic sugar and seems mightily convenient to me. :-3

Alp Altunel · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-23 23:55:35Z

3

within the class you have to use like self::$staticPropery if the function accessing to the variable is also static.

answered Aug 23, 2015 at 23:55

Alp Altunel

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