What is the significance of using parent:: in PHP classes and how does it differ from using $this::?

Using `parent::` in PHP classes allows you to access properties and methods of the parent class. This is useful when you want to override a method in a child class but still need to access the parent class's implementation. On the other hand, using `$this::` refers to the current class, so it is used to access static methods or properties within the same class. 

class ParentClass {
    public function sayHello() {
        echo "Hello from ParentClass";
    }
}

class ChildClass extends ParentClass {
    public function sayHello() {
        parent::sayHello(); // accessing parent class's method
        echo " - Hello from ChildClass";
    }
}

$child = new ChildClass();
$child->sayHello(); // Output: Hello from ParentClass - Hello from ChildClass

Keywords

parent:: $this:: PHP classes inheritance method overriding

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