What is not mentioned in the manual is that you can use "self" to force object hinting on a method of the implementing class:
Consider the following interface:
<?php
interface Comparable
{function compare(self $compare);}
?>
Which is then implemented:
<?php
class String implements Comparable
{
private $string;
function __construct($string)
{$this->string = $string;}
function compare(self $compare)
{return $this->string == $compare->string;}
}
class Integer implements Comparable
{
private $integer;
function __construct($int)
{$this->integer = $int;}
function compare(self $compare)
{return $this->integer == $compare->integer;}
}
?>
Comparing Integer with String will result in a fatal error, as it is not an instance of the same class:
<?php
$first_int = new Integer(3);
$second_int = new Integer(3);
$first_string = new String("foo");
$second_string = new String("bar");
var_dump($first_int->compare($second_int)); // bool(true)
var_dump($first_string->compare($second_string)); // bool(false)
var_dump($first_string->compare($second_int)); // Fatal Error
?>
Object Interfaces
Object interfaces allow you to create code which specifies which methods a class must implement, without having to define how these methods are handled.
Interfaces are defined using the interface keyword, in the same way as a standard class, but without any of the methods having their contents defined.
All methods declared in an interface must be public, this is the nature of an interface.
implements
To implement an interface, the implements operator is used. All methods in the interface must be implemented within a class; failure to do so will result in a fatal error. Classes may implement more than one interface if desired by separating each interface with a comma.
范例
See also the instanceof operator.
add a note
User Contributed Notes
marasek AT telton POINT de
07-Sep-2006 09:01
07-Sep-2006 09:01
vbolshov at rbc dot ru
10-Aug-2006 05:34
10-Aug-2006 05:34
Consider the following:
[vbolshov@localhost tmp]$ cat t.php
<?php
error_reporting(E_ALL | E_STRICT);
interface i {
function f($arg);
}
class c implements i {
function f($arg, $arg2 = null)
{
}
}
?>
[vbolshov@localhost tmp]$ php t.php
[vbolshov@localhost tmp]$
PHP doesn't generate a Fatal Error in this case, although the method declaration in the class differs from that in the interface. This situation doesn't seem good to me: I'd prefer classes being strictly bound to their interfaces.
albert at friendly dot net
19-Jul-2006 11:53
19-Jul-2006 11:53
Maybe this is a bit like cyrille.berliat's problem plus a somewhat solution.
Let's say we want to create a queue class (or a stack, or a double
linked list, the usual... :-).
Wouldn't it be nice if we could define a generic interface or abstract (base) class that dictates the way specific queues have to look like ?
Without having to specify the type of data to be queued.
But we _do_ want to be strict about the type of data to be passed to a specific queue type.
In other words: a bit of generic programming.
Alas, it seems that Type Hinting and Interface/abstract don't get along :(
But there might be a more runtime-involved solution. See below.
So, this won't work:
------
abstract class Object {} // as PHP(5) doesn't have a super-Object-base-class
class Cdata extends Object { } // i.e. Cdata IS-A Object
interface Iqueue {
public function enqueue(Object $data);
}
class Cmyqueue implements Iqueue {
public function enqueue(Cdata $data) { }
}
$q = new Cmyqueue;
$data = new Cdata;
$q->enqueue($data);
------
Nor will this 'compile':
------
abstract class Object {}
class Cdata extends Object {}
abstract class Iqueue extends Object {
abstract public function enqueue(Object $data);
}
class Cmyqueue extends Iqueue {
public function enqueue(Cdata $data) { }
}
$q = new Cmyqueue;
$data = new Cdata;
$q->enqueue($data);
---------
This however is possible:
abstract class Object {}
class Cdata extends Object
{
function __toString() { return('data'); }
}
abstract class Iqueue extends Object {
abstract public function enqueue(Object $data);
}
class Cmyqueue extends Iqueue {
public function enqueue(Object $data)
{ echo "enqueue '".$data->__toString()."'\n"; }
}
or:
interface Iqueue {
public function enqueue(Object $data);
}
class Cmyqueue implements Iqueue {
....
}
We could do our special Cmyqueue specific pre-processing before enqueu()ing.
But the compiler won't warn us if we pass anything other than the
object we expect to be passed.
We'd have to do something runtime like this:
class Cmyqueue extends Iqueue {
private function checkObjectType(Object &$obj)
{
if (get_class($obj) !== 'Cdata')
throw new Exception("You can only pass CData's to Cmyqueue");
}
public function enqueue(Object $data)
{
$this->checkObjectType($data);
echo "enqueue '".$data->__toString()."'\n";
}
}
hope this clears up some...
Grigori Kochanov
17-Jul-2006 05:24
17-Jul-2006 05:24
The engine does not recognise the class that implements an interface as declared in the code written before the class declaration is placed.
This means that you can't place the declaration of a classes that implements an interfaces in the code beneath the creation of an instance.
Tony2001 said this is an expected behaviour of Zend engine.
Back to PHP 3 ;-)
<?php
var_dump(class_exists('validatorCheck'));
//you don't write $obj = new validatorCheck() here
class validatorCheck implements ArrayAccess {
function offsetGet($key){}
function offsetSet($key, $value) {}
function offsetUnset($key) {}
function offsetExists($offset) {}
//class end
}
var_dump(class_exists('validatorCheck'));
//an instance can be created only here
?>
Result:
bool(false)
bool(true)
spiritus.canis at gmail dot com
26-Oct-2005 01:45
26-Oct-2005 01:45
Regarding the example by cyrille.berliat:
This is not a problem and is consistent with other languages. You'd just want to use inheritance like so:
<?php
class AbstractClass {
public function __ToString ( ) { return 'Here I am'; }
}
class DescendantClass extends AbstractClass {}
interface MyInterface {
public function Hello ( AbstractClass $obj );
}
class MyClassOne implements MyInterface {
public function Hello ( AbstractClass $obj ) {
echo $obj;
}
} // Will work as Interface Satisfied
$myDC = new DescendantClass() ;
MyClassOne::Hello( $myDC ) ;
?>
cyrille.berliat[no spam]free.fr
17-Oct-2005 05:29
17-Oct-2005 05:29
Interfaces and Type Hinting can be used but not with Inherintance in the same time :
<?
class AbstractClass
{
public function __ToString ( ) { return 'Here I\'m I'; }
}
class DescendantClass extends AbstractClass
{
}
interface MyI
{
public function Hello ( AbstractClass $obj );
}
class MyClassOne implements MyI
{
public function Hello ( AbstractClass $obj )
{
echo $obj;
}
} // Will work as Interface Satisfied
class MyClassTwo implements MyI
{
public function Hello ( DescendantClass $obj )
{
echo $obj;
}
} // Will output a fatal error because Interfaces don't support Inherintance in TypeHinting
//Fatal error: Declaration of MyClassTwo::hello() must be compatible with that of MyI::hello()
?>
Something a little bit bad in PHP 5.0.4 :)
nuying117 at 163 dot com
14-Oct-2005 04:48
14-Oct-2005 04:48
If a class implements two interfaces , but these two interfaces have a same method,for example
<?php
interface TestInterface1
{
function testMethod1();
function testMethod2();
}
interface TestInterface2
{
function testMethod2();
function testMethod3();
function testMethod4();
}
class ImplementClass implements TestInterface1,TestInterface2
{
function __construct()
{
echo "I am constructor\r\n";
}
function __destruct()
{
echo "I am destructor\r\n";
}
function testMethod1()
{}
function testMethod2()
{}
function testMethod3()
{}
function testMethod4()
{}
}
?>
It will cause a fatal error!
darealremco at msn dot com
03-Oct-2005 03:53
03-Oct-2005 03:53
To two notes below: There is one situation where classes and interfaces can be used interchangeably. In function definitions you can define parameter types to be classes or interfaces. If this was not so then there would not be much use for interfaces at all.
warhog at warhog dot net
11-Aug-2005 11:35
11-Aug-2005 11:35
on the post below:
An interface is in fact the same like an abstract class containing abstract methods, that's why interfaces share the same namespace as classes and why therefore "real" classes cannot have the same name as interfaces.
marcus at synchromedia dot co dot uk
28-Jul-2005 07:11
28-Jul-2005 07:11
Classes and interface names share a common name space, so you can't have a class and an interface with the same name, even though the two can never be used ambiguously (i.e. there are no circumstances in which a class and an interface can be used interchangeably). e.g. this will not work:
interface foo {
public function bling();
}
class foo implements foo {
public function bling() {
}
}
You will get a 'Cannot redeclare class' error, even though it's only been declared as a class once.
tobias_demuth at web dot de
05-May-2005 05:21
05-May-2005 05:21
The statement, that you have to implement _all_ methods of an interface has not to be taken that seriously, at least if you declare an abstract class and want to force the inheriting subclasses to implement the interface.
Just leave out all methods that should be implemented by the subclasses. But never write something like this:
<?php
interface Foo {
function bar();
}
abstract class FooBar implements Foo {
abstract function bar(); // just for making clear, that this
// method has to be implemented
}
?>
This will end up with the following error-message:
Fatal error: Can't inherit abstract function Foo::bar() (previously declared abstract in FooBar) in path/to/file on line anylinenumber
Sebastian Mendel
11-Mar-2005 09:12
11-Mar-2005 09:12
also see: class_implements()
at: http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.class-implements.php
erik dot zoltan at msn dot com
26-Feb-2005 02:43
26-Feb-2005 02:43
When should you use interfaces? What are they good for?
Here are two examples.
1. Interfaces are an excellent way to implement reusability.
You can create a general interface for a number of situations
(such as a save to/load from disk interface.) You can then
implement the interface in a variety of different ways (e.g. for
formats such as tab delimited ASCII, XML and a database.)
You can write code that asks the object to "save itself to
disk" without having to worry what that means for the object
in question. One object might save itself to the database,
another to an XML and you can change this behavior over
time without having to rewrite the calling code.
This allows you to write reusable calling code that can work
for any number of different objects -- you don't need to know
what kind of object it is, as long as it obeys the common
interface.
2. Interfaces can also promote gradual evolution. On a
recent project I had some very complicated work to do and I
didn't know how to implement it. I could think of a "basic"
implementation but I knew I would have to change it later.
So I created interfaces in each of these cases, and created
at least one "basic" implementation of the interface that
was "good enough for now" even though I knew it would have
to change later.
When I came back to make the changes, I was able to create
some new implementations of these interfaces that added the
extra features I needed. Some of my classes still used
the "basic" implementations, but others needed the
specialized ones. I was able to add the new features to the
objects themselves without rewriting the calling code in most
cases. It was easy to evolve my code in this way because
the changes were mostly isolated -- they didn't spread all
over the place like you might expect.
mat.wilmots (at) wanadoo (dot) fr
20-Jan-2005 10:22
20-Jan-2005 10:22
interfaces support multiple inheritance
<?php
interface SQL_Result extends SeekableIterator, Countable
{
// new stuff
}
abstract class SQL_Result_Common
{
// just because that's what one would do in reality, generic implementation
}
class SQL_Result_mysql extends SQL_Result_Common implements SQL_Result
{
// actual implementation
}
?>
This code raises a fatal error because SQL_Result_mysql doesn't implement the abstract methods of SeekableIterator (6) + Countable (1)
m.kurzyna AT nius waw pl
24-Dec-2004 10:04
24-Dec-2004 10:04
You can have a class implementing two or more interfaces, just seperate them with a coma:
<?php
interface i_one {
public one();
}
interface i_two {
public two();
}
class oneANDtwo implements i_one, i_two {
public one() {}
public two() {}
}
?>
Of course all implemented interfaces will be tested, so one needs to have one() and two() in their class to avoid errors.
russ dot collier at gmail dot com
29-Nov-2004 02:24
29-Nov-2004 02:24
You can also specify class constants in interfaces as well (similar to specifying 'public static final' fields in Java interfaces):
<?php
interface FooBar
{
const SOME_CONSTANT = 'I am an interface constant';
public function doStuff();
}
?>
Then you can access the constant by referring to the interface name, or an implementing class, (again similar to Java) e.g.:
<?php
class Baz implements FooBar
{
//....
}
print Baz::SOME_CONSTANT;
print FooBar::SOME_CONSTANT;
?>
Both of the last print statements will output the same thing: the value of FooBar::SOME_CONSTANT