On Fri, 2010-03-12 at 06:49 -0800, Andrew Brookins wrote: > On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 7:11 AM, Ben Stones <b3ns93@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Hi, > > > > I've been learning about object oriented programming for the past few weeks > > and I've understood it pretty well, but I have one question. Usually with > > PHP scripts I make, all the functionality for a specific page is in the > > actual PHP file, and I'd use PHP functions in a separate directory which > > would be included in whichever PHP file needs specific functions I have > > created. The functions would be for the specific things in my script, such > > as validation checks, functionality that will be used/repeated a lot > > throughout my script, etc. What I don't understand about OOP is what its > > primary purpose is for. Do I use OOP for all the functionality of my > > application, in separate directories, and include these specific class files > > and call the methods to complete specific functionality needed for whatever > > PHP file I'm working on, or is OOP used for specific functionality like I > > would with functions? Essentially what I'm asking is what is the primary > > purpose for OOP? Hope you understand. > > > > Thanks, > > > > Hey, Ben, > > The primary purpose of object-oriented programming is to make code > easier to maintain. > > Typically moving to an OO approach means designing your scripts with > objects in mind from the ground up. You might find it helpful to > start fresh with a new project and try to write it all with classes > and methods. This can be a challenge, depending on how long you have > been programming without objects. > > I recommend that you find some open-source, object-oriented scripts > similar to ones you have worked on in the past and read through the > code to see how it's done. An object-oriented framework like > CodeIgniter can help get you on the right track, though there are also > pitfalls with using frameworks. Watch out for over-complex frameworks > that will only confuse you. > > Also, there are a lot of poorly-written and/or non-OO PHP scripts > floating around out there, so it might help to read OO code written in > Python, Ruby, or some other scripting language. I have found that in > general, the quality of publicly available work is higher in those two > languages than in PHP. > > Andrew > I'd just like to add my own thoughts on OOP. Whereas with conventional procedural PHP you might put your functions outside in a separate file to be called whenever you need them, going the OOP route allows you to section out your functions into groups as it were. Imagine a company site selling products and support online. You might have an object to deal with the logins, shopping cart and shopping history, another object for dealing with the blog/forum where you support is given, maybe another for pulling the general content of the page together. This would allow you to only load in those bits you need on each part of the site and re-use specific parts on other sites easily. Thanks, Ash http://www.ashleysheridan.co.uk
