When to use self over $this?

Question

In PHP 5, what is the difference between using self and $this?

When is each appropriate?

Answer 1

DO NOT USE self::, use static::

There is another aspect of self:: that is worth mentioning. Annoyingly self:: refers to the scope at the point of definition not at the point of execution. Consider this simple class with two methods:

class Person
{

    public static function status()
    {
        self::getStatus();
    }

    protected static function getStatus()
    {
        echo "Person is alive";
    }

}

If we call Person::status() we will see "Person is alive" . Now consider what happens when we make a class that inherits from this:

class Deceased extends Person
{

    protected static function getStatus()
    {
        echo "Person is deceased";
    }

}

Calling Deceased::status() we would expect to see "Person is deceased" however what we see is "Person is alive" as the scope contains the original method definition when call to self::getStatus() was defined.

PHP 5.3 has a solution. the static:: resolution operator implements "late static binding" which is a fancy way of saying that it's bound to the scope of the class called. Change the line in status() to static::getStatus() and the results are what you would expect. In older versions of PHP you will have to find a kludge to do this.

See PHP Documentation

So to answer the question not as asked ...

$this-> refers to the current object (an instance of a class), whereas static:: refers to a class

Answer 2

Additionally since $this:: has not been discussed yet.

For informational purposes only, as of PHP 5.3 when dealing with instantiated objects to get the current scope value, as opposed to using static::, one can alternatively use $this:: like so.

http://ideone.com/7etRHy

class Foo
{
    const NAME = 'Foo';

    //Always Foo::NAME (Foo) due to self
    protected static $staticName = self::NAME;

    public function __construct()
    {
        echo $this::NAME;
    }

    public function getStaticName()
    {
       echo $this::$staticName;
    }
}

class Bar extends Foo
{
    const NAME = 'FooBar';

    /**
     * override getStaticName to output Bar::NAME
     */
    public function getStaticName()
    {
        $this::$staticName = $this::NAME;
        parent::getStaticName();
    }
}

$foo = new Foo; //outputs Foo
$bar = new Bar; //outputs FooBar
$foo->getStaticName(); //outputs Foo
$bar->getStaticName(); //outputs FooBar
$foo->getStaticName(); //outputs FooBar

Using the code above is not common or recommended practice, but is simply to illustrate its usage, and is to act as more of a "Did you know?" in reference to the original poster's question.

It also represents the usage of $object::CONSTANT for example echo $foo::NAME; as opposed to $this::NAME;

Answer 3

The keyword self does NOT refer merely to the 'current class', at least not in a way that restricts you to static members. Within the context of a non-static member, self also provides a way of bypassing the vtable (see wiki on vtable) for the current object. Just as you can use parent::methodName() to call the parents version of a function, so you can call self::methodName() to call the current classes implementation of a method.

class Person {
    private $name;

    public function __construct($name) {
        $this->name = $name;
    }

    public function getName() {
        return $this->name;
    }

    public function getTitle() {
        return $this->getName()." the person";
    }

    public function sayHello() {
        echo "Hello, I'm ".$this->getTitle()."<br/>";
    }

    public function sayGoodbye() {
        echo "Goodbye from ".self::getTitle()."<br/>";
    }
}

class Geek extends Person {
    public function __construct($name) {
        parent::__construct($name);
    }

    public function getTitle() {
        return $this->getName()." the geek";
    }
}

$geekObj = new Geek("Ludwig");
$geekObj->sayHello();
$geekObj->sayGoodbye();

This will output:

Hello, I'm Ludwig the geek
Goodbye from Ludwig the person

sayHello() uses the $this pointer, so the vtable is invoked to call Geek::getTitle(). sayGoodbye() uses self::getTitle(), so the vtable is not used, and Person::getTitle() is called. In both cases, we are dealing with the method of an instantiated object, and have access to the $this pointer within the called functions.

Answer 4

self (not $self) refers to the type of class, where as $this refers to the current instance of the class. self is for use in static member functions to allow you to access static member variables. $this is used in non-static member functions, and is a reference to the instance of the class on which the member function was called.

Because this is an object, you use it like: $this->member

Because self is not an object, it's basically a type that automatically refers to the current class, you use it like: self::member

Answer 5

I believe question was not whether you can call the static member of the class by calling ClassName::staticMember. Question was what's the difference between using self::classmember and $this->classmember.

For e.g., both of the following examples work without any errors, whether you use self:: or $this->

class Person{
    private $name;
    private $address;

    public function __construct($new_name,$new_address){
        $this->name = $new_name;
        $this->address = $new_address;
    }
}

class Person{
    private $name;
    private $address;
    public function __construct($new_name,$new_address){
        self::$name = $new_name;
        self::$address = $new_address;
    }
}