What are the limitations of using destructors in PHP for database operations like marking records as "locked"?

When using destructors in PHP for database operations like marking records as "locked," there are limitations in terms of reliability and control. Destructors are not guaranteed to be called at a specific time, which can lead to unexpected behavior if the database operation is not completed before the destructor is called. To ensure that the database operation is completed before the object is destroyed, it is better to explicitly call a method to perform the operation and handle any errors or exceptions.

class RecordLocker {
    private $db;
    private $recordId;

    public function __construct($db, $recordId) {
        $this->db = $db;
        $this->recordId = $recordId;
    }

    public function lockRecord() {
        // Perform database operation to mark record as locked
    }

    public function __destruct() {
        $this->lockRecord();
    }
}

// Example of using the RecordLocker class
$db = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydb", "username", "password");
$recordLocker = new RecordLocker($db, 123);
$recordLocker->lockRecord();