PHP Using Magic Methods or not?

Question

A doubt arose that I find interesting and would like to post here.

How do you use methods whose functionality is to set and rescue attributes in a class?

Use like this:

public function setNome($nome)

Or with magical methods? Like this:

public function __set($attr,$valor)

I ask this because I see in other people’s codes, despite having magical methods many do not use.

Answer 1

Nothing prevents you from using both forms, this can even be of great value. When using PHP, i use get/set and the name of the fields, thus:

<?php
    class Cliente {
        private $id;
        private $nome;
        public function __construct($id = 0, $nome = NULL){
            $this->id   = $id;
            $this->nome = $nome;
        }
        public function getId(){
            return $this->id;
        }
        public function getNome(){
            return $this->nome;
        }
        public function setId($value){
            $this->id = $value;
        }
        public function setNome($value){
            $this->nome = $value;
        }

        public function __set ($name,$value){
            $this->$name = $value;
        }
        public function __get ($name){
            return $this->$name;
        }
    }


    $cliente = new Cliente();
    $cliente->id   = 1;
    $cliente->nome = "Fulano 1";

    echo $cliente->getId() . " " . $cliente->getNome();

Realize that the private $id and private $nome are being targeted with the magical methods and in getId() and getNome() I’m taking the values, I mean, you can work together to allow this kind of implementation.

Example: Ideone

---

Another important factor is that you can work with this code set in the pattern Fluent thus;

<?php
    class Cliente {
        private $id;
        private $nome;
        public function __construct($id = 0, $nome = NULL){
            $this->id   = $id;
            $this->nome = $nome;
        }
        public function getId(){
            return $this->id;
        }
        public function getNome(){
            return $this->nome;
        }
        public function setId($value){
            $this->id = $value;
            return $this;
        }
        public function setNome($value){
            $this->nome = $value;
            return $this;
        }

        public function __set ($name,$value){
            $this->$name = $value;
        }
        public function __get ($name){
            return $this->$name;
        }
    }


    $cliente = new Cliente();

    $cliente->setId(2)
            ->setNome("Fulano 2");

    echo $cliente->id . " " . $cliente->nome;

Example: Ideone

Soon after the method is called setId is called the setNome (successively if you have more methods Fluent), which is the logic of this pattern. So it has a flexibility that the magical methods do not provide you, but the public methods set may have.

As reported nothing prevents the joint work of these features in PHP. They are magical methods:

• __Construct

• __destruct

• __call

• __callStatic

• __get

• __set

• __isset

• __unset

• __Sleep

• __wakeup

• __toString

• __invoke

• __set_state

• __clone

References:

• Magic Methods

• Implementing Reusable Fluent Interface Pattern in PHP With AOP

• The Basics of Fluent interfaces in PHP