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What are the different ways where we can use object operators -> in PHP?

Peter Mortensen
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nectar
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    Why is this closed? People are upvoting this question 8 years later, and there are sufficient answers to the question. Clearly, it's pretty easy to see what's being asked here. – DeltaFlyer Nov 16 '18 at 22:12
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    @DeltaFlyer Vote for reopening this question – Stephan Apr 20 '20 at 11:20

5 Answers5

124

PHP has two object operators.

The first, ->, is used when you want to call a method on an instance or access an instance property.

The second, ::, is used when you want to call a static method, access a static variable, or call a parent class's version of a method within a child class.

Powerlord
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    Is there a name for the "->" operator ? I guess the "::" I would just call it double colon.. but this one "->" how would I call it? property accessor operator ? – Pablo Camara Nov 28 '20 at 15:11
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    @PabloCamara The first one is called the object operator and the second the class operator. I couldn't imagine someone calling something the "double colon". – user904963 Jan 31 '22 at 20:07
30

When accessing a method or a property of an instantiated class

class SimpleClass
{
    // property declaration
    public $var = 'a default value';

    // method declaration
    public function displayVar() {
        echo $this->var;
    }
}

$a = new SimpleClass();
echo $a->var;
$a->displayVar();
Mark Baker
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    like object->method_name(); or object->prop_name; it means its more like dot(.) operator to access class methods and attributes. – nectar Jun 14 '10 at 13:26
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    Similar to the . class operator in java, yes... but see the PHP class documentation for details – Mark Baker Jun 14 '10 at 13:29
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Call a function:

$foo->bar();

Access a property:

$foo->bar = 'baz';

where $foo is an instantiated object.

mmattax
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4

It is used when referring to the attributes of an instantiated object. e.g:

class a {
    public $yourVariable = 'Hello world!';
    public function returnString() {
        return $this->yourVariable;
    }
}

$object = new a();
echo $object->returnString();
exit();
Sam Pritchard
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Wind Chimez
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1

"->" operator is the PHP related callable content. always use to call an instance method and access instance.

"::" scope operator is used for the instance that is used for calling the static method and constant it's very different with::

It's a proper reply to them, I have got new knowledge.

Please check the name conflicts for the above different operator.

李沣泉
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