PHP Magic Methods: __construct, __get, __set, __toString and More

Learn PHP magic methods — __construct, __destruct, __get, __set, __toString, __invoke.

__construct and __destruct

__construct()

Runs automatically when an object is created.

__destruct()

Runs automatically when an object is destroyed or when the script ends.

class User
{
    public function __construct()
    {
        echo "Object Created<br>";
    }

    public function __destruct()
    {
        echo "Object Destroyed<br>";
    }
}

$user = new User();

Output:-

• Object Created
• Object Destroyed

__get and __set — Dynamic Properties

These methods are triggered when accessing inaccessible or non-existing properties.

__set($name, $value)

Called when writing a property.

__get($name)

Called when reading a property.

class User
{
    private $data = [];

    public function __set($name, $value)
    {
        $this->data[$name] = $value;
    }

    public function __get($name)
    {
        return $this->data[$name] ?? null;
    }
}

$user = new User();

$user->name = "John";
$user->email = "john@example.com";

echo $user->name;

__toString and __invoke

__toString() is a magic method that is automatically called when an object is treated as a string (for example, when using echo, print, or string concatenation).

__invoke() is a magic method that is automatically called when an object is used like a function.

//to_string 

class User
{
    private $name;

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

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

$user = new User("John");

echo $user;
//output:- John

//invoke

class Calculator
{
    public function __invoke($a, $b)
    {
        return $a + $b;
    }
}

$calc = new Calculator();

echo $calc(10, 20);

//output :- 30