Bug #73862 [Nab]: Accessing protected property and method of sibling class is inconsistent

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=73862&edit=1 ID: 73862 User updated by: after89 at gmail dot com Reported by: after89 at gmail dot com Summary: Accessing protected property and method of sibling class is inconsistent Status: Not a bug Type: Bug Package: *General Issues PHP Version: 7.1.0 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: What is wrong in my code? Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2017-01-11 05:01:26] krakjoe@php.net There are errors or assumptions that are wrong in your code. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2017-01-05 01:15:09] dave at mudsite dot com This might be a quirk how method inheritance works, as compared to how property inheritance works. I think if you redefine a property in a subclass the visibility is re-restricted to that class. For instance you can see: https://3v4l.org/j3aQg . If you use the __construct to set the $this->foo, there is no scope issue. Whereas with methods you're defining a signature that can be implemented in extended classes So I don't know if this is a bug, per se, or just an oddity. Someone with better knowledge on the intent on property inheritance could probably answer the discrepancy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2017-01-04 19:07:20] after89 at gmail dot com Valid code for method: <?php class Base { protected function foo() {} } class Other extends Base { protected function foo() { echo "OK"; } } class Child extends Base { public function bar() { $otherBase = new Other(); $otherBase->foo(); } } $child = new Child(); $child->bar(); ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2017-01-04 19:05:55] after89 at gmail dot com Description: ------------ Accessing protected property defined in superclass of current context on object that is sibling of current context class (extends one of the base class) is not possible (https://3v4l.org/BODds). Althrough accessing method in the same manner is valid (https://3v4l.org/8DNBa). Both of this behaviours should be consistent. Test script: --------------- <?php class Base { protected $foo = 'Base'; } class Other extends Base { protected $foo = 'Other'; } class Child extends Base { public function bar() { $otherBase = new Other(); echo $otherBase->foo; } } $child = new Child(); $child->bar(); ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=73862&edit=1