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PHP

Yongyu Zhang
Yongyu Zhang
1,892 Points
Posted by Yongyu Zhang
Yongyu Zhang
1,892 Points

What's the difference between our code?

/*****************************
This is my code.
*****************************/
class Fish {
  public $common_name; 
  public $flavor;
  public $record_weight;
  public function __construct($name,$flavor,$record){
    $this -> common_name = $name;
    $this -> flavor = $flavor;
    $this -> record_weight = $record;
  }
}
$bass = new Fish('Largemouth Bass','Excellent','22 pounds 5 ounces');  

?>

/********************************
And this is someone else's code.
********************************/

<?php 

class Fish {
    public $common_name = 'name';       //the difference
    public $flavor = 'flavor';                      //the difference
    public $record_weight = 'weight';     //the difference
    public function __construct($name,$flavor,$record){
    $this -> common_name = $name;
    $this -> flavor = $flavor;
    $this -> record_weight = $record;
  }
}
$bass = new Fish('Largemouth Bass','Excellent','22 pounds 5 ounces');  

?>

Why do they add ='name' after the variable $common_name ？

1 Answer

Shawn Gregory
Shawn Gregory
Courses Plus Student 40,672 Points

Hi Yongyu,

When you create properties for classes, like the one's you are talking about, there are two ways you can do it. The first way is the style on the top: you declare the properties then use either a function/method or (if the property is public) an outside script using the class to add values to the properties. The second style is what you see on the bottom. When you declare the property you can also set its value. Both ways are valid PHP syntax and using one over the other is dependable of the situation. If you wish to have default values then you would set a property's value when you declare it, if you don't need a default value or you are sure that you will be setting a value later on, you would just simply declare the property and leave it at that. I'll give you the same link I did in your other post explaining about properties: HERE. Hope this explains things.

Cheers!