What are the best practices for handling state in PHP classes to avoid conflicts and errors?
When handling state in PHP classes, it is important to properly encapsulate the state by using access modifiers like private or protected. This helps prevent direct manipulation of the state from outside the class, reducing the risk of conflicts and errors. Additionally, using getter and setter methods to interact with the state can provide a controlled way to modify the state and enforce validation rules if needed.
class User {
private $name;
public function getName() {
return $this->name;
}
public function setName($name) {
// Add validation logic here if needed
$this->name = $name;
}
}
$user = new User();
$user->setName("John Doe");
echo $user->getName(); // Output: John Doe