Core PHP Programming, Third Edition

6.3. Defining a Class

When you declare a class, you are really making a template for the creation of objects. You list all the variables the object should have and all the functions it will need. These are called properties and methods respectively. Figure 6.1 displays the form of a class declaration. Note that inside the curly braces you can declare only variables or functions. Listing 6.1 shows the definition of a class with three properties and two methods.

Figure 6.1. Defining a class.

class Name extends Another Class { Access Variable Declaration Access Function Declaration }

Listing 6.1. Using a class

<?php //define class for tracking users class User { //properties public $name; private $password, $lastLogin; //methods public function ...