In what scenarios would using an abstract class be more beneficial than an interface in PHP?

Abstract classes in PHP can be more beneficial than interfaces when you want to provide a partial implementation of a class along with some abstract methods that must be implemented by the child classes. Abstract classes can contain both abstract and non-abstract methods, allowing for code reusability and providing a structure for related classes to follow. 

<?php

abstract class Shape {
    protected $color;

    public function __construct($color) {
        $this->color = $color;
    }

    // Abstract method that must be implemented by child classes
    abstract public function calculateArea();
}

class Circle extends Shape {
    private $radius;

    public function __construct($color, $radius) {
        parent::__construct($color);
        $this->radius = $radius;
    }

    public function calculateArea() {
        return pi() * pow($this->radius, 2);
    }
}

$circle = new Circle('red', 5);
echo $circle->calculateArea(); // Output: 78.539816339745
?>

Keywords

abstract class interface PHP object-oriented programming inheritance

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