OOP — Magic Methods

Magic Methods

class MagicBox {
    private array $data = [];

    // Called when reading inaccessible property
    public function __get(string $key): mixed {
        return $this->data[$key] ?? null;
    }

    // Called when writing inaccessible property
    public function __set(string $key, mixed $val): void {
        $this->data[$key] = $val;
    }

    // Called with isset() on inaccessible property
    public function __isset(string $key): bool {
        return isset($this->data[$key]);
    }

    // Called when object used as string
    public function __toString(): string {
        return json_encode($this->data);
    }

    // Called when object used as function
    public function __invoke(string $key): mixed {
        return $this->data[$key];
    }

    // Clone
    public function __clone(): void {
        $this->data = array_map(fn($v) => $v, $this->data);
    }
}

$box = new MagicBox();
$box->name = "Alice";   // __set
echo $box->name;        // __get → Alice
echo $box;              // __toString → {"name":"Alice"}
echo $box("name");      // __invoke → Alice