A little while ago, I wrote an article discussing why interfaces rock and the way that interfaces work. However, a couple of comments made me realize that I didn’t discuss one of the key elements about interfaces: why you would use them.
One key rule about interfaces is that all methods must be defined as public. You cannot define protected or private methods, and you cannot define any members of any type. You may define constants, as these cannot be overridden by any class implementing the interface.
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 @ 1:00 am |
Comment (6) |
Categories: PHP 5
Tags: interface, OOP, PHP 5
When I first learned PHP 5’s object oriented syntax and rules, I didn’t see much of a point to the interface options. I felt that I could do more by defining abstract classes and at least filling in some of the methods with some details. Lots of people in the PHP world still aren’t 100% sure the reasons that interfaces exist, or the best way to use them. However, interfaces are very cool, and anyone who does OOP in PHP should know about them.
To start, what is an interface? An interface is a collection of completely abstract methods. Interfaces do not contain any of the innerworkings of the application; instead, they serve the sole purpose in setting a structure for the objects that implement them. All of their methods must be public. Here is a sample interface:
Friday, September 25th, 2009 @ 1:00 am |
Comment (16) |
Categories: PHP 5
Tags: OOP, PHP 5, interface