TalkPHP - Does PHP allow this?

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Does PHP allow this?

Does PHP allow multiple methods inside a class with the same name but with different arguments?

PHP Code:


		
			
public function myFunction($argument) { }



public function myFunction($argument, $argument2) { }

No. PHP does not support overloading.

Ah, it's called overloading.
Alright. Too bad.

Why? :-P

Lazyness. In general PHP's OOP-support is quite outdated.

Overloading can be applied in object oriented programming, but does not inherently belong to it. I've been out of the PHP game for too long to comment on what OOP abilities it has, especially because I tend to confuse what it can do to what C++ can do.

PHP Code:


		
			
class myClass
{
    public function myFunction()
    {
        $arguments = func_get_args();
    }
}

You can then use any number of arguments on that function.

PHP Code:


		
			
$obj = new myClass();
$obj->myFunction();
$obj->myFunction(1,'two');
$obj->myFunction(3,4,5,'six');

edit: That could get real messy real fast depending on the function. Be very careful if you are going to use that as a substitute to overloading.

Very true, but when used correctly func_get_args() can be an extremely powerful asset.

You can always do this.

PHP Code:


		
			
function my_funct($parm1 = '', $parm2 = '') {

}

Where the default value is assigned to the argument and overwritten by the function call.

PHP Code:


		
			
function my_funct($first = 'John', $last = 'Doe') {
   echo $first . ' ' . $last;
}

// Just a note, the optional arguments are best
// added last in the order, otherwise you will 
// start to get syntax/logic errors.

// Adam Doe
my_funct('Adam');

Quote:

Originally Posted by ETbyrne (Post 29359)

Very true, but when used correctly func_get_args() can be an extremely powerful asset.

With great power comes great responsibility ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ETbyrne (Post 29357)

PHP Code:


		
			
class myClass

{

    public function myFunction()

    {

        $arguments = func_get_args();

    }

}

You can then use any number of arguments on that function.

PHP Code:


		
			
$obj = new myClass();

$obj->myFunction();

$obj->myFunction(1,'two');

$obj->myFunction(3,4,5,'six');

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamdecaf (Post 29360)

You can always do this.

PHP Code:


		
			
function my_funct($parm1 = '', $parm2 = '') {



}

Where the default value is assigned to the argument and overwritten by the function call.

PHP Code:


		
			
function my_funct($first = 'John', $last = 'Doe') {

   echo $first . ' ' . $last;

}



// Just a note, the optional arguments are best

// added last in the order, otherwise you will 

// start to get syntax/logic errors.



// Adam Doe

my_funct('Adam');

True, the calling of the method would become like I want it.
Although the second example would not be exactely like I want it since I still would have to define how many arguments it would need.

However, the calling of the method is not the only thing. It's how things are handled within the method. If using your example:

PHP Code:


		
			
$obj->myMethod(1);

$obj->myMethod(1, "String");

This would still be in the same method and the method would become quite large depending on what the method does.

Assuming it wouldn't be easier to just rename the function for different uses (don't overload if you don't have to), if you were determined to use the same name you could always use a switch.

php Code:

$num  = func_num_args();
$args = func_get_args();

switch ( $num ) {
    case 1:
        some_func();
        break;

    case 2:
        some_other_func();
        break;
}

You could alternatively use count() on $args, or place your code where the some_funcs() are... same theory applies to overloading for the purposes of dealing with different objects,

php Code:

function fake_overload( $obj ) {

    if ( ! is_object( $obj ) )
        return;

    $reflect = new ReflectionClass( $obj );

    switch ( $reflect->getName() ) {
        case 'first_object': ...

You could also try something similar to this, it's not overloading, but still allows multiple amounts of arguments. This would really allow you to send any number of parameters and values, it would just take a while to process if you have a lot.

PHP Code:


		
			
function d($data = array()) {
   foreach($data as $key => $value) {
       switch ($key) {
           'speak': 
              echo $value;
           break;
          
           'save':
              $this->db->save($value);
           break;
       }
   }
}

d(array(
   'speak' => 'Adam'
));

d(array(
   'speak' => 'John',
   'save' => $name
));