PHP RFC: Callable Constructors

• Version: 1.0
• Date: 2016-02-25
• Author: Dan Ackroyd, Danack@php.net
• Status: Under Discussion
• First Published at: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/callableconstructors

Currently in PHP, the constructor methods of classes can only be directly invoked through the language construct of 'new', they cannot be called as a callable variable.

This RFC seeks to remove this limitation, to allow more convenient programming paradigms.

We have a class:

class Foo {
    public function __construct() { }
}

Attempting to call the constructor via a callable will error:

$fn = 'Foo::__construct';
$foo = $fn();
 
// Non-static method Foo::__construct() cannot be called statically

The proposal of this RFC is to make callables that are of the form

['Foo', '__construct']

or

"Foo::__construct"

be a valid callable, that will act in the same way that

$fn = "Foo::__construct";
$object = $fn();

would be equivalent to the current functionality of:

$object = new foo();

In general, it would be useful for this limitation to be removed, as it would allow constructors to be called without needing to use the special 'new' language construct.

The author of this RFC has encountered two situations where not being able to use a contructor as a callable has been annoying.

It would be useful to be able to define a constructor as a callable for a property in a factory object.

class FooFactory {
    // Use the default constructor of Foo as the default 'factory' callable
    private $factoryCallable = 'Foo::__construct';
 
    public function setFactoryCallable(callable $fn) {
        $this->factoryCallable = $fn;
    }
 
    public function create() {
        $fn = $this->factoryCallable;
        return $fn();
    }
}

It is not possible to define the property `$factoryCallable` as a closure, as only constant expressions can be used to define the initial value of a property.

It would be possible to rewrite the code to work around this limitation....but we could also just remove the limitation in the language.

It is a common pattern to use 'configuration' to define which implementations should be used by an application.

Whether this configuration is stored in a plain text file, a cache like APCu or the environment variables, the information is fundamentally stored as strings. It is easiest for the developer if the information can be used directly, without needing to be parsed or otherwise interpreted before being used.

class Foo {
    public function __construct() { }
}
 
$fooFactory = getenv('FooFactory');
// $fooFactory is 'Foo::__construct';
$foo = $fooFactory();

If it was possible to use Foo::__construct as a callable, that code would work.

Currently because the constructor is not callable, extra code is needed.

$fooFactory = getenv('FooFactory');
 
// $fooFactory is "Foo::__construct";
$constructorPosition = stripos($fooFactory, '::__construct');
 
if ($constructorPosition !== false) {
    $objectName = substr($fooFactory, 0, $constructorPosition);
 
    $callable = function () use ($objectName) {
        return new $objectName;
    };
}
 
$foo = $callable();

And this is not as good a solution, as the parameters which are needed by 'Foo' objects are lost.

It would be much better if the constructor could be called directly as a callable.

There is a single BC break known. When the __construct method is called statically from within the scope of the containing class, and the call is made with call_user_function, rather than being called with $fn() syntax, then the function is erroneously called through the 'instance' scope, rather than through static scope.

class A {
    public function __construct() {
        return "Why would you even do this.";
    }
 
    public function foo() {
        $fn = [self::class, '__construct'];
        // Calling directly as a callable like:
        // $result = $fn();
        // Correctly fails with the error message:
        // Error: Non-static method A::__construct() cannot be called statically
 
        // However calling with 'call user function', is erroneously allowed.
        $result = call_user_func($fn);
        var_dump($result);
    }
}
 
$a = new A;
$a->foo();
 
 
// Current output is: 
// string(27) "Why would you even do this."
 
// Output after RFC would be:
// object(A)#1 (0) {
// }

The code would need to be changed to call the __construct method through the instance to continue to have the code behave as before. i.e.

$fn = [$this, '__construct'];
//This calls the constructor as an instance method, without creating a new object, in exactly the same
// way as `$foo->__contruct();` calls the method without creating an object.

7.1

Yes or no, with a 2/3 majority needed to pass.

Patch will be available before voting commences.

After the project is implemented, this section should contain

1. the version(s) it was merged to
2. a link to the git commit(s)
3. a link to the PHP manual entry for the feature