TalkPHP - View Single Post - My First Class

drewbee · 07-14-2008, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sketchMedia

Static methods/variables and class constants are bound to the class therefore we must use self to reference the current class, $this however references the current object not class, remember there is a fundamental difference between the two; that is why you can't use $this to access methods/properties marked as static or class constants because they are bound to the class not the object.

Thanks for that explanation. I havn't used method / variable scoping to much yet, and this makes sense.

I guess my real question is, what is the purpose to making a static method vs public? I understand private, protected, and public, but not static.

edit:
Declaring class members or methods as static makes them accessible without needing an instantiation of the class.

More on visibility:
The visibility of a property or method can be defined by prefixing the declaration with the keywords: public, protected or private. Public declared items can be accessed everywhere. Protected limits access to inherited and parent classes (and to the class that defines the item). Private limits visibility only to the class that defines the item.