Req #60098 [NEW]: Static constructors, or static intializers

From: Operating system: All PHP version: 5.4.0beta1 Package: SPL related Bug Type: Feature/Change Request Bug description:Static constructors, or static intializers Description: ------------ I've noticed a fairly large trend in a lot of php frameworks, as well as in my own code, and I was curious about whether this is planned, the reasons as to why it might not be, or if it has even been brought up. I've tried to find any other requests about this, but haven't been very successful. Basically, my request is this: When a class comes into existence (whether the code is in the file you're currently in, or you're including it), a static constructor (a common method for it is "::init") is called. This is called only once, the first time the class exists, and would act as a protected method (allowing parent-child objects to call it incase of a class reset?). This would be pretty awesome, but I don't know if it's practical, or what all your thoughts might have been as I'm sure plenty of you have seen it floating around. Thanks a bunch for taking the time to read my request, I'm excited to hear what you think :) -- Edit bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=60098&edit=1 -- Try a snapshot (PHP 5.4): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=trysnapshot54 Try a snapshot (PHP 5.3): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=trysnapshot53 Try a snapshot (trunk): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=trysnapshottrunk Fixed in SVN: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=fixed Fixed in SVN and need be documented: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=needdocs Fixed in release: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=needscript Try newer version: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=oldversion Not developer issue: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=support Expected behavior: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=notwrong Not enough info: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=submittedtwice register_globals: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=globals PHP 4 support discontinued: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=php4 Daylight Savings: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=dst IIS Stability: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=gnused Floating point limitations: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=float No Zend Extensions: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=60098&r=mysqlcfg