Using $this, self::, parent:: for code readability

Question

I would like to know if it is acceptable/preferred to use self::method() and parent::method() when working in php classes.

You can use $this->method() but $this-> can al

Answer 1

There is a difference.

$this refers to an instance of an object.

parent and self are used to call methods statically.

This page of PHP's manual explains it in better detail than I have time to write at the moment. The first example in particular should help to highlight some of the differences. I encourage you to copy paste the first example and mess about with it, as I think its an important concept to get in your mind if you don't already know the difference.