PHP OOP - Static Methods

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PHP - Static Methods

Static methods can be called directly - without creating an instance of the class first.

Static methods are declared with the static keyword:

Syntax

<?php
class ClassName {
public static function staticMethod() {
echo "Hello World!";
}
}
?>

To access a static method use the class name, double colon (::), and the method name:

Syntax

ClassName:: staticMethod();

Let's look at an example:

Example

<?php
class greeting {
public static function welcome() {
echo "Hello World!";
}
}

// Call static method
greeting::welcome();
?>

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Example Explained

Here, we declare a static method: welcome(). Then, we call the static method by using the class name, double colon (::), and the method name (without creating an instance of the class first).

PHP - More on Static Methods

A class can have both static and non-static methods. A static method can be accessed from a method in the same class using the self keyword and double colon (::):

Example

<?php
class greeting {
public static function welcome() {
echo "Hello World!";
}

public function __construct() {
self::welcome();
}
}

new greeting();
?>

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Static methods can also be called from methods in other classes. To do this, the static method should be public:

Example

<?php
class A {
public static function welcome() {
echo "Hello World!";
}
}

class B {
public function message() {
A::welcome();
}
}

$obj = new B();
echo $obj -> message();
?>

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To call a static method from a child class, use the parent keyword inside the child class. Here, the static method can be public or protected.

Example

<?php
class domain {
protected static function getWebsiteName() {
return "91xjr.com";
}
}

class domainW3 extends domain {
public $websiteName;
public function __construct() {
$this->websiteName = parent::getWebsiteName();
}
}

$domainW3 = new domainW3;
echo $domainW3 -> websiteName;
?>

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