Re: OOP Static Functions vs. Objects

Edward Vermillion wrote:

I'm still trying to get my head around all the OOP stuff and was wondering if there is any basic difference between calling a static function as opposed to creating an object, in situations where both methods will do the same thing for you. Is there any overhead to creating an object from a class that might impact time/memory consumption(efficiency), or does PHP treat these two methods the same? I'm currently working with PHP4 but am also curious as to how it works in PHP5.

creating an object is a lot of overhead, after the object is created the difference in calling the method on the object and calling the other method statically is neglegible/non-existant. don't even try to compare objects in php4 and php5 on anything other than a superficial level - php5 has so much more OO functionality that it's jsut not funny. :-P for instance all those '&'s you are using - php5 doesn't need it (throws E_STRICT errors at you actually if you use them) because objects are always references (unless you specifically clone them) I recommend going to php5 if your currently developing new php OO code, this might not be possible due to production env. restriction but it doesn't stop you installing a copy locally and getting your hands dirty :-) have fun.

I.E.: <pseudoCode> class Foo {

        var $_vars = array();

    function &setVar1($var) {
        static $localVars = array();
        if (!empty($localVars[$var])) {
            return $localVars[$var];
        } else {
            $localVars[$var] =& new $var();
            return $localVars[$var];
        }
    }

    function &setVar2($var) {               if (!empty($this->_vars[$var])) {
            return $this->_vars[$var];
        } else {
            $this->_vars[$var] =& new $var();
            return $this->_vars[$var];
        }
    }

} $result1 =& Foo::setVar1('something'); $bar = new Foo(); $result2 =& $bar->setVar2('something'); </pseudoCode> Right now I'm working on an object controller type of class, but I can see where I might run into this situation in other areas where storing a value in a static function variable or a class variable would accomplish much the same thing as far as the calling code is concerned. Any thoughts? Ed