Changing Property Values of Array Item in PHP by keeping original instance

Question

I am unsure about my approach on changing property values of an object by its original pointer, after pushing it into an array.
In my parent class, there is an array of objects, and the function that pushes items into it returns the original instance.

class Parent {
  public $items;
  function __construct() { $items = array(); }

  function addItem() {
    $item = new stdClass();
    $item->foo = 'foo';
    $items[] = $item;  
    return $item;
  }
}

Inside the Child class, I get the original instance and I can easily change its foo property value:

class Child extends Parent {
  function newItem() {
    $item_instance = $this->addItem();
    $item_instance->foo = 'bar';
  }
}

When I instantiate the Child class, it behaves as expected, changing the array item property value of the parent class.

$my_child = new Child();
$my_child->newItem();
print $my_child->items[0]->foo; // prints 'bar'

My question is: Should I avoid using the original object pointer after the object is pushed into the array, or is this approach correct?

Walter Tross · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-19 12:27:44Z

1

There is no reason to avoid using an object pointer after it is pushed into an array. What you push into an array is effectively the pointer, not the object.

answered Oct 19, 2013 at 12:27

Walter Tross

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3 Comments

mavrosxristoforos Over a year ago

Thank you. Do you know of any documentation that may state the above?

Walter Tross Over a year ago

@mavrosxristoforos, it's a basic feature of PHP since 5.0, you can start from here: php.net/manual/en/oop5.intro.php

mavrosxristoforos Over a year ago

Thank you. I have seen the oop5 documentation, indeed, and this is working as expected, so I'll just rest assured for now.

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