What's the best way to store class variables in PHP?

Question

I currently have my PHP class variables set up like this:

class someThing {

    private $cat;
    private $dog;
    private $mouse;
    private $hamster;
    pr         


        

Answer 1

If you're using private $data; you've just got an impenetrable blob of data there... Explicitly stating them will make your life much easier if you're figuring out how a class works.

Another consideration is if you use an IDE with autocomplete - that's not going to work with the 2nd method.