CODEWITHSUNDEEP
php
Mulligan1981
Mulligan1981

Reputation: 99

Overriding parent methods gotcha

Why does the code below: 

class A {   
    public function foo() {}
}

class B extends A { 
    private function foo() {}
}

generates an fatal error while this:

class A {
    private function foo() {}   
}

class B extends A {
    public function foo() {}    
}

doesn't although the documentation says "If the child doesn't see the parent's private methods, the child can't override them"?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 132

Answers (2)

u_mulder
u_mulder

Reputation: 54796

So let's analyze what you have:

class A {
    private function foo() {}   
}

class B extends A {
    public function foo() {}    
}

Here class A has a private method, and since it's private it's not seen in class B. So in class B you can create method with the same name. It's not overriding, it's just creating method with the same name.

And in this example:

class A {   
    public function foo() {}
}

class B extends A { 
    private function foo() {}
}

Method A::foo is public and you can override it in class B. But as it's public, visibility of children method shouldn't be stricter then parent one. So you can't have B::foo as private, only public.

Upvotes: 1

user2594803
user2594803

Reputation:

It is all about semantic. In first example in method foo of class B you can call parent method foo of class A using parent::foo(), but he is a private.

Upvotes: 0

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