OK, I HAVE to learn this stuff !

[arborint]

OK so how the hell does it process it if it doesnt yet EXIST (see this type stuff makes me NUTS!)

First you can tell if it is set yet with isset($myvar). Second if it is not set it treats it like null. And what do you mean "if it doesnt yet EXIST"? You created a name and you haven't assigned value to it yet. What would you expect it to be besides null?

$myString = "hello";
$myString++

whats the result of that mess?

You really don't want to know. And I doubt many PHP programmers know either. But it is internally consistent. Try this to see what it's doing:

$s = 'yyy';
$s++;
echo "$s<br/>";
$s++;
echo "$s<br/>";

Honestly, this stuff is just language trivium. If small changes like the many listed in this thread actually bother you then stick with what you are confortable with.

[someonewhois]

'hello'++ = 'hellp', doens't it?

so your telling me PHP falls back to the "old school" of anything besides a 0 or negative number is true?

Yeah. That's why I never go "if ($var)". I always go "if ($var === true)" if I mean to do a boolean (or if course, "if ($var !== false)").

[XtrEM3]

so your telling me PHP falls back to the "old school" of anything besides a 0 or negative number is true?

i get to confuse u more...actually negative numbers are true, also...anything besides 0 or null is true.

edit: actually anything besides 0 or null will evaluate to true, i dont think it is true...not that it makes a difference

[DougBTX]

actually anything besides 0 or null will evaluate to true,

Not quite: http://www.php.net/manual/en/languag...oolean.casting

When converting to boolean, the following values are considered FALSE:

• the boolean FALSE itself
• the integer 0 (zero)
• the float 0.0 (zero)
• the empty string, and the string "0"
• an array with zero elements
• an object with zero member variables (PHP 4 only)
• the special type NULL (including unset variables)

Every other value is considered TRUE (including any resource).

Douglas

[DougBTX]

         public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
		firstName = firstName;
		}

...

whats the result of that mess?

That's a mess to me

Give me attr_writer :first_name any day!

Douglas

[Dr Livingston]

public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
        firstName = firstName;
        } 

A mess?...

public

This one should be obvious huh?

void

Return is void, ie Nothing is returned from the method in question.

(String firstName)

The parameter has to be typeof string. This is the sort of stuff that PHP5 lacks and it really does disturb me, in that not that PHP5 lacks it, but as to why PHP5 lacks it, and why didn't the developers of PHP5 not implement this??

Ie

// PHP5 does not support this for example
$command = (DataSource) $helper -> getPageData();
... 

PHP isn't Java, but it would just makes things a lot easier to work with PHP, considering that PHP5 is meant to be aimed towards larger developments. Sorry for going off topic btw folks, I've had my rant

[DougBTX]

public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
        firstName = firstName;
        } 

A mess?...

I know what it does, I just don't see why you would want to write it for every get/set it your app. Guess that's why you need an IDE for Java.

Douglas

[dc dalton]

OH MAN AM I AN IDIOT, I wrote this long detailed reply and mistakenly closed the browser in preview .... DAMMIT! Ok let me try this again:

I will agree that this:

firstName = firstName;

is quite messy and will confuse a lot of java newbies ... thats why I used the explicit this.firstName when I code it ... especially if I will be having others work on my code... it basically works out that the variable firstName that is being assigned is local to the method ONLY ... then the variable its being assigned to is the global within the object ... I know FUGLY, again thats why I use the this.

And yes Dr. is right ... the method is locked down so ONLY what is delared as the return type may be returned ...... that I actually like a LOT, but again thats Java.

I do appreciate the banter, examples and comparisions made here ... they are helping me compare what I know to what Im trying to learn!

So here's a final question and then I am off for a 11 hour drive to pick my son up from college! OH FREAKING JOY!

In Java I usually set up a main controller for a site and then call it with a page parameter so I can then serve up the right page, turn links on & off, change title tags and meta tags .. as we know with Java I create an instance of the object that holds the code and just pass the page parameter to it so I can do all these little utilities.. Now in PHP Ive been able to do this (once) by using code like this:

$upper = new PageUpper();
$upper->doTop($pageName);

But the class PageUpper was within the same file... Ill admit its VERY Javaish .... but when I THOUGHT I could do something similar in PHP by using an incude or a require but have yet NOT been able to get these external files to recognise the parameter to do what i want .....

I can do all these fun type things when I have ALL the code in one file but that just makes my skin crawl! AND Ive had no problems with includes or whatnot when i didnt try to pass any data around between them. So what the heck am I missing here!

OK, thats all for me today .... gotta eat and then do the drive FROM HELL! Ill see ya tomorrow after I recoup!

[dc dalton]

I know what it does, I just don't see why you would want to write it for every get/set it your app. Guess that's why you need an IDE for Java.

Douglas

BTW, I DONT USE or NEED any IDE .. I code EVERYTHING by hand!

[DougBTX]

So what the heck am I missing here!

a.php:

<?php

include 'b.php';

$b = new B;
$b->talk('Bob');

?>

b.php:

<?php

class B {

  function talk($name) {
    echo "Hi $name!";
  }
  
}

?>

a.php outputs "Hi!".

Cheers,
Douglas

[DougBTX]

BTW, I DONT USE or NEED any IDE .. I code EVERYTHING by hand!

Broken caps lock key too?

I was just pointing out things that are flaws from my perspective in PHP and Java.

Why should you have to write getters and setters by hand, even if they are just basic direct in and out stuff?

Edit: note, I wasn't going for just exposing public vars, that tends to making the simple things really simple, but a pain to make more complicated (adding logic, only having writers etc). See my post above: I'd like to see "attr_writer :first_name, :last_name" in PHP and Java - though you need dynamic classes to do that.

Douglas

[Young Twig]

Off Topic:

But you are correct in your statement, because the variable firstName is declared as private you could NOT access by

System.out.println(jane.firstName);

Matter of fact it wouldnt even compile, the compiler would tell you it has private access..

Could you then do jane.firstName if firstName was public? If so, what's the point of get/sets?

[Dylan B]

Off Topic:


Could you then do jane.firstName if firstName was public? If so, what's the point of get/sets?

You could, but that would let anything touch firstName, which you don't want.

[kyberfabrikken]

Could you then do jane.firstName if firstName was public? If so, what's the point of get/sets?

In trivial cases getters/setters are redundant, since you can just expose the property by making it public. However - it's a good practice to use getters/setters, since that allows you to attatch logic to the action later on, should you need it.
Some languages (such as php) allows you you can use magic getters/setters (I'm sure they have a proper name, but I don't recall it), witch allows you to attatch a function to a public property. This way, you will use the class as if you are accessing the property directly, but in fact a method is called. See overload

[dc dalton]

a.php:

<?php
include 'b.php';
$b = new B;
$b->talk('Bob');
?>

b.php:

<?php
class B {
  function talk($name) {
    echo "Hi $name!";
  }
}
?>

a.php outputs "Hi!".

Cheers,
Douglas

Thanks thats exactly what I was looking for! Now why didnt they put that in this stupid book!

And Twig ... the idea of making all the variables private and then use setters / getters is called Encapsulation and is the first step (one of many) into such things as Java Beans which are super powerful!

The idea is YOU control what cant and cant happen to the variable, via tests etc within the setter method... it allows you to lock down that variables data in so many more powerful ways its not funny.. I have used this exact premise to do server-side data validation .... works realy really nice!

[someonewhois]

It's good practice to use setters/getters/private variables anyway, I thought. I always use it. It's one less place you can hang yourself from.

[Young Twig]

Ah, alright. Thanks.

Oh, by the way, Dave. If you haven't already, get into the habit of using single-quotes for strings in PHP. Double-quotes are slow and annoying.

[dc dalton]

It's good practice to use setters/getters/private variables anyway, I thought.

Absolutely! I always lock everything down a tight as possible!

Oh, by the way, Dave. If you haven't already, get into the habit of using single-quotes for strings in PHP. Double-quotes are slow and annoying.

OH thats really gonna screw me up too cause single ' in Java are for chars strings are delimited by " ... does it really make that much difference?

[DougBTX]

does it really make that much difference?

Nope.

[someonewhois]

Absolutely! I always lock everything down a tight as possible!



OH thats really gonna screw me up too cause single ' in Java are for chars strings are delimited by " ... does it really make that much difference?

I say yes, most say no. The single quotes definitely ARE slower, it's a matter of how much. On top of that, because you use quotes so frequently, it WILL add up. With more and more people visiting the site at the same time, you would even see your loads marginally as you grow. It's probably not the first thing that should be on your mind but I'd definitely advocate single quotes.

Plus, in my opinion, single quotes look better.

 <?php
 $a = 'Hello '.$world;
 $a = "Hello $world";
 ?>

You can actually identify the variable (assuming you're using syntax highlighting), plus then with arrays you don't have to go "Hello {$var['world']}" since you'll be going 'Hello '.$var['world'];.

C is the same as Java. Chars are single, strings are double. It confuses me every time I go back to use C.

[samsm]

The single quotes definitely ARE slower...

You did it again.

[someonewhois]

Errrrr.

[DougBTX]

I say yes, most say no.

Despite my 'nope' I notice now that in my code sample quoted above by Dalton that I used singles when there were no vars in the string, and doubles when there were - perhaps it is built in habit to use the fastest way now It isn't something I would stress about though.

Douglas

[Young Twig]

echo "<div class=\"asdf\"><label for=\"price\">Price: \$</label><input type=\"text\" name=\"price\" value=\"{$info['price']}\" />";

//vs.

echo '<div class="asdf"><label for="price">Price: $</label><input type="text" name="price" value="'.$info['price'].'" />'; 

[Dylan B]

Despite my 'nope' I notice now that in my code sample quoted above by Dalton that I used singles when there were no vars in the string, and doubles when there were - perhaps it is built in habit to use the fastest way now It isn't something I would stress about though.

Douglas

That fastest way (correct me if I'm wrong) is

echo 'Hello' . $name; // fastest