© Matt Zandstra 2016

MATT ZANDSTRA, PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice, 10.1007/978-1-4842-1996-6_10

10. Patterns for Flexible Object Programming

Matt Zandstra

(1)Liverpool, Merseyside, UK

With strategies for generating objects covered, we’re free now to look at some strategies for structuring classes and objects. I will focus in particular on the principle that composition provides greater flexibility than inheritance. The patterns I examine in this chapter are once again drawn from the Gang of Four catalog.

This chapter will cover a trio of patterns:

  • The Composite pattern: Composing structures in which groups of objects can be used as if they were individual objects

  • The Decorator pattern: A flexible mechanism for combining objects at runtime ...

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