CLASSES and OBJECTS that represent the "Ideal World"
Wouldn't it be great to get the lawn mowed by saying $son->mowLawn()? Assuming the function mowLawn() is defined, and you have a son that doesn't throw errors, the lawn will be mowed.
In the following example; let objects of type Line3D measure their own length in 3-dimensional space. Why should I or PHP have to provide another method from outside this class to calculate length, when the class itself holds all the neccessary data and has the education to make the calculation for itself?
<?php
class Point3D
{
public $x;
public $y;
public $z; public function __construct($xCoord=0, $yCoord=0, $zCoord=0)
{
$this->x = $xCoord;
$this->y = $yCoord;
$this->z = $zCoord;
}
public function __toString()
{
return 'Point3D(x=' . $this->x . ', y=' . $this->y . ', z=' . $this->z . ')';
}
}
class Line3D
{
$start;
$end;
public function __construct($xCoord1=0, $yCoord1=0, $zCoord1=0, $xCoord2=1, $yCoord2=1, $zCoord2=1)
{
$this->start = new Point3D($xCoord1, $yCoord1, $zCoord1);
$this->end = new Point3D($xCoord2, $yCoord2, $zCoord2);
}
public function getLength()
{
return sqrt(
pow($this->start->x - $this->end->x, 2) +
pow($this->start->y - $this->end->y, 2) +
pow($this->start->z - $this->end->z, 2)
);
}
public function __toString()
{
return 'Line3D[start=' . $this->start .
', end=' . $this->end .
', length=' . $this->getLength() . ']';
}
}
echo '<p>' . (new Line3D()) . "</p>\n";
echo '<p>' . (new Line3D(0, 0, 0, 100, 100, 0)) . "</p>\n";
echo '<p>' . (new Line3D(0, 0, 0, 100, 100, 100)) . "</p>\n";
?>
<-- The results look like this -->
Line3D[start=Point3D(x=0, y=0, z=0), end=Point3D(x=1, y=1, z=1), length=1.73205080757]
Line3D[start=Point3D(x=0, y=0, z=0), end=Point3D(x=100, y=100, z=0), length=141.421356237]
Line3D[start=Point3D(x=0, y=0, z=0), end=Point3D(x=100, y=100, z=100), length=173.205080757]
My absolute favorite thing about OOP is that "good" objects keep themselves in check. I mean really, it's the exact same thing in reality... like, if you hire a plumber to fix your kitchen sink, wouldn't you expect him to figure out the best plan of attack? Wouldn't he dislike the fact that you want to control the whole job? Wouldn't you expect him to not give you additional problems? And for god's sake, it is too much to ask that he cleans up before he leaves?
I say, design your classes well, so they can do their jobs uninterrupted... who like bad news? And, if your classes and objects are well defined, educated, and have all the necessary data to work on (like the examples above do), you won't have to micro-manage the whole program from outside of the class. In other words... create an object, and LET IT RIP!