Class Access Modifiers

14 years ago by Jarrod Nettles — view source

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Has there been any discussion on access modifiers for classes? I looked through the existing RFCs and searched through old discussions on the mailing list but didn't come up with anything.

Specifically, I think it would be beneficial (for framework developers in particular) if classes could be marked as public, private, etc. I haven't really thought through exact definitions on how each modifier would restrict but here is a use case.

A developer is working on an object-oriented framework that uses namespaces and uses classes extensively. He considers many of the classes to be for internal use only, that is, they will only be used by the internal workings of the framework core, not by any web application that somebody builds using his framework. That being the case, the developer would like to restrict access to certain classes so that they can only be accessed in certain situations.

Proposal (after five minutes of thought)

  Public - A class can be instantiated or called statically from anywhere. For reasons of backward compatibility a class without any modifier would be considered public.

  Internal - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the same root namespace. If I have a class Core\Mvc\View, only from within a class sharing the same root namespace (ex: Core\Html\Textbox) would I be able to access the "View" class.

  Private - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the exact same namespace. Example, class Core\Mvc\View could only be accessed from a class in the Core\Mvc namespace (ex: Core\Mvc\Controller).

What do people think? I'm not too concerned with the exact three I listed above, but more and more I think it would be wise if there were a way to restrict the accessibility of classes between namespaces.

Jarrod Nettles
Application Developer - Technology
INCCRRA
p 309.829.5327 - f 309.828.1808

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14 years ago by Martin Scotta — view source

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I'm writing a RFC about improvements on the current OO Model.

do you want to add this?

http://wiki.php.net/rfc/object-model-improvements

Martin Scotta

Has there been any discussion on access modifiers for classes? I looked
through the existing RFCs and searched through old discussions on the
mailing list but didn't come up with anything.

Specifically, I think it would be beneficial (for framework developers in
particular) if classes could be marked as public, private, etc. I haven't
really thought through exact definitions on how each modifier would restrict
but here is a use case.

A developer is working on an object-oriented framework that uses namespaces
and uses classes extensively. He considers many of the classes to be for
internal use only, that is, they will only be used by the internal workings
of the framework core, not by any web application that somebody builds using
his framework. That being the case, the developer would like to restrict
access to certain classes so that they can only be accessed in certain
situations.

Proposal (after five minutes of thought)
  Public - A class can be instantiated or called statically from
anywhere. For reasons of backward compatibility a class without any modifier
would be considered public.
  Internal - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the
same root namespace. If I have a class Core\Mvc\View, only from within a
class sharing the same root namespace (ex: Core\Html\Textbox) would I be
able to access the "View" class.
  Private - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the
exact same namespace. Example, class Core\Mvc\View could only be accessed
from a class in the Core\Mvc namespace (ex: Core\Mvc\Controller).

What do people think? I'm not too concerned with the exact three I listed
above, but more and more I think it would be wise if there were a way to
restrict the accessibility of classes between namespaces.

Jarrod Nettles
Application Developer - Technology
INCCRRA
p 309.829.5327 - f 309.828.1808

This e-mail message may contain privileged or confidential information. If
you are not the intended recipient, you may not disclose, use, disseminate,
distribute, copy or rely upon this message or attachment in any way. If you
received this e-mail message in error, please return by forwarding the
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14 years ago by Jarrod Nettles — view source

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Either that or it should be spun off into its own RFC. I have no idea how to do either.

From: Martin Scotta [mailto:martinscotta@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2011 12:09 PM
To: Jarrod Nettles
Cc: internals@lists.php.net
Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Class Access Modifiers

I'm writing a RFC about improvements on the current OO Model.

do you want to add this?

http://wiki.php.net/rfc/object-model-improvements

Martin Scotta

Has there been any discussion on access modifiers for classes? I looked through the existing RFCs and searched through old discussions on the mailing list but didn't come up with anything.

Proposal (after five minutes of thought)

  Public - A class can be instantiated or called statically from anywhere. For reasons of backward compatibility a class without any modifier would be considered public.

  Internal - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the same root namespace. If I have a class Core\Mvc\View, only from within a class sharing the same root namespace (ex: Core\Html\Textbox) would I be able to access the "View" class.

  Private - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the exact same namespace. Example, class Core\Mvc\View could only be accessed from a class in the Core\Mvc namespace (ex: Core\Mvc\Controller).

Jarrod Nettles
Application Developer - Technology
INCCRRA
p 309.829.5327 - f 309.828.1808

Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this e-mail

Jarrod Nettles
Application Developer - Technology
INCCRRA
p 309.829.5327 - f 309.828.1808

Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this e-mail

14 years ago by Hannes Landeholm — view source

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Good Sugesstion.

Currently I'm forced to use huge internal classes for my framework because
dividing them into smaller classes would expose internal behavior to the
"outside"... the application layer.

This would solve that problem.

~Hannes

Has there been any discussion on access modifiers for classes? I looked
through the existing RFCs and searched through old discussions on the
mailing list but didn't come up with anything.

Specifically, I think it would be beneficial (for framework developers in
particular) if classes could be marked as public, private, etc. I haven't
really thought through exact definitions on how each modifier would restrict
but here is a use case.

A developer is working on an object-oriented framework that uses namespaces
and uses classes extensively. He considers many of the classes to be for
internal use only, that is, they will only be used by the internal workings
of the framework core, not by any web application that somebody builds using
his framework. That being the case, the developer would like to restrict
access to certain classes so that they can only be accessed in certain
situations.

Proposal (after five minutes of thought)
  Public - A class can be instantiated or called statically from
anywhere. For reasons of backward compatibility a class without any modifier
would be considered public.
  Internal - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the
same root namespace. If I have a class Core\Mvc\View, only from within a
class sharing the same root namespace (ex: Core\Html\Textbox) would I be
able to access the "View" class.
  Private - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the
exact same namespace. Example, class Core\Mvc\View could only be accessed
from a class in the Core\Mvc namespace (ex: Core\Mvc\Controller).

What do people think? I'm not too concerned with the exact three I listed
above, but more and more I think it would be wise if there were a way to
restrict the accessibility of classes between namespaces.

Jarrod Nettles
Application Developer - Technology
INCCRRA
p 309.829.5327 - f 309.828.1808

This e-mail message may contain privileged or confidential information. If
you are not the intended recipient, you may not disclose, use, disseminate,
distribute, copy or rely upon this message or attachment in any way. If you
received this e-mail message in error, please return by forwarding the
message and its attachments to the sender. INCCRRA does not accept liability
for any errors, omissions, corruption or virus in the contents of this
message or any attachments that arises as a result of e-mail transmission.

Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this
e-mail

14 years ago by James Butler — view source

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Proposal (after five minutes of thought)
  Public - A class can be instantiated or called statically from
anywhere. For reasons of backward compatibility a class without any modifier
would be considered public.
  Internal - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the
same root namespace. If I have a class Core\Mvc\View, only from within a
class sharing the same root namespace (ex: Core\Html\Textbox) would I be
able to access the "View" class.
  Private - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the
exact same namespace. Example, class Core\Mvc\View could only be accessed
from a class in the Core\Mvc namespace (ex: Core\Mvc\Controller).

What do people think? I'm not too concerned with the exact three I listed
above, but more and more I think it would be wise if there were a way to
restrict the accessibility of classes between namespaces.

Jarrod Nettles

Really like the general idea and think (IMHO) its RFC worthy, but have a
few questions...
Would there be any method of overriding the the visibility in a child
class?And would the child class inherit the parents visibility?
I realise this may seem daft initially but I can think of some instances
where this might be useful.

James

14 years ago by Jarrod Nettles — view source

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Interesting question. My gut tells me not (as does three years of C# experience). I’m sure that everyone will have a different opinion on this but to me it seems taboo that a child class override the visibility of the parent class. For example, PHP currently does not allow you to override a method with a lower or higher visibility than the parent – I can’t go from protected to public or vice versa. Visibility must be maintained throughout the class hierarchy.

I realize that ten thousand people will curse up and down the first time they try to extend an internal class with a public one but good application design should be the real solution.

Proposal (after five minutes of thought)
  Public - A class can be instantiated or called statically from
anywhere. For reasons of backward compatibility a class without any modifier
would be considered public.
  Internal - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the
same root namespace. If I have a class Core\Mvc\View, only from within a
class sharing the same root namespace (ex: Core\Html\Textbox) would I be
able to access the "View" class.
  Private - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the
exact same namespace. Example, class Core\Mvc\View could only be accessed
from a class in the Core\Mvc namespace (ex: Core\Mvc\Controller).

What do people think? I'm not too concerned with the exact three I listed
above, but more and more I think it would be wise if there were a way to
restrict the accessibility of classes between namespaces.

Jarrod Nettles

James

Jarrod Nettles
Application Developer - Technology
INCCRRA
p 309.829.5327 - f 309.828.1808

Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this e-mail

14 years ago by Chad Fulton — view source

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Hello,

Interesting question. My gut tells me not (as does three years of C# experience). I’m sure that everyone will have a different opinion on this but to me it seems taboo that a child class override the visibility of the parent class. For example, PHP currently does not allow you to override a method with a lower or higher visibility than the parent – I can’t go from protected to public or vice versa. Visibility must be maintained throughout the class hierarchy.

Actually, class properties and methods can have a higher visibility
than their parents, just not a lower one.

E.g.:

<?php

error_reporting(E_ALL | E_STRICT);

class foo {
protected function bar() {

}

class baz extends foo {
public function bar() {

}

class foobar extends baz {
protected function bar () {

}

You get the following error:

Fatal error: Access level to foobar::bar() must be public (as in class
baz) in ...

That said, I wouldn't think that visibility modifiers on classes need
to follow the same pattern. In the case of properties and methods, I
think the rationale is that child classes should be compatible from an
interface standpoint with their parents. That same logic may not
transfer to class visibility modifiers.

I am certainly no expert, but I'm curious what the use case is for
class visibility modifiers?

Currently I'm forced to use huge internal classes for my framework because
dividing them into smaller classes would expose internal behavior to the
"outside"... the application layer.

This doesn't necessarily make sense to me. Isn't it the
end-developer's problem if they start instantiating classes in weird
ways?

It doesn't seem the same as having a private method, since in that
case the end-developer presumably already has an object instance, and
you want to guide them to the correct interface for interacting with
it, whereas in an application, one would think that the end-developer
wouldn't simply be instantiating classes by themselves all over the
place.

Chad

14 years ago by Martin Scotta — view source

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class modifiers should follow the same modifiers and semantic that methods:
T_PUBLIC, T_PROTECTED and T_PRIVATE should be used.

nowadays all classes are public...

T_PUBLIC: everybody can see it, everybody can subclass it
T_PROTECTED: visible only within its ns, but everybody can subclass it
T_PRIVATE: visible only within the same ns, subclass allowed only within its
ns

namespace A {
class Pub { }
protected class Prot { }
private class Priv { }
}

namespace B {
class Foo extends \A\Prot { } // legal, no matter Foo visibility
class Baz extends \A\Priv { } // error, no matter Baz visibility
new Foo(); // ok
new Baz(); // ok
new \A\Pub(); // ok
new \A\Prot(); // error, class is protected
new \A\Priv(); // error, class is private
}

in the example "A" exposes classes "Pub" and "Prot", but you cannot
instantiate class "Prot"

So... does it mean that class "Priv" cannot be used outside "A"? no, you can
always return a reference.

namespace A {
class F {
static function getE() { return new E; }
}
private class E { }
}

var_dump( \A\F::getE() ); // object \A\E

Martin Scotta

Hello,

On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 10:02 AM, Jarrod Nettles JNettles@inccrra.org
wrote:

Interesting question. My gut tells me not (as does three years of C#
experience). I’m sure that everyone will have a different opinion on this
but to me it seems taboo that a child class override the visibility of the
parent class. For example, PHP currently does not allow you to override a
method with a lower or higher visibility than the parent – I can’t go from
protected to public or vice versa. Visibility must be maintained throughout
the class hierarchy.

Actually, class properties and methods can have a higher visibility
than their parents, just not a lower one.

E.g.:

<?php

error_reporting(E_ALL | E_STRICT);

class foo {
protected function bar() {

}
}

class baz extends foo {
public function bar() {

}
}

class foobar extends baz {
protected function bar () {

}
}

?>

You get the following error:

Fatal error: Access level to foobar::bar() must be public (as in class
baz) in ...

That said, I wouldn't think that visibility modifiers on classes need
to follow the same pattern. In the case of properties and methods, I
think the rationale is that child classes should be compatible from an
interface standpoint with their parents. That same logic may not
transfer to class visibility modifiers.

I am certainly no expert, but I'm curious what the use case is for
class visibility modifiers?

On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 7:11 AM, Hannes Landeholm landeholm@gmail.com
wrote:

Currently I'm forced to use huge internal classes for my framework
because
dividing them into smaller classes would expose internal behavior to the
"outside"... the application layer.

This doesn't necessarily make sense to me. Isn't it the
end-developer's problem if they start instantiating classes in weird
ways?

It doesn't seem the same as having a private method, since in that
case the end-developer presumably already has an object instance, and
you want to guide them to the correct interface for interacting with
it, whereas in an application, one would think that the end-developer
wouldn't simply be instantiating classes by themselves all over the
place.

Chad

14 years ago by Martin Scotta — view source

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Hello,

On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 10:02 AM, Jarrod Nettles JNettles@inccrra.org
wrote:

Interesting question. My gut tells me not (as does three years of C#
experience). I’m sure that everyone will have a different opinion on this
but to me it seems taboo that a child class override the visibility of the
parent class. For example, PHP currently does not allow you to override a
method with a lower or higher visibility than the parent – I can’t go from
protected to public or vice versa. Visibility must be maintained throughout
the class hierarchy.

Actually, class properties and methods can have a higher visibility
than their parents, just not a lower one.

E.g.:

<?php

error_reporting(E_ALL | E_STRICT);

class foo {
protected function bar() {

}
}

class baz extends foo {
public function bar() {

}
}

class foobar extends baz {
protected function bar () {

}
}

?>

You get the following error:

Fatal error: Access level to foobar::bar() must be public (as in class
baz) in ...

That said, I wouldn't think that visibility modifiers on classes need
to follow the same pattern. In the case of properties and methods, I
think the rationale is that child classes should be compatible from an
interface standpoint with their parents. That same logic may not
transfer to class visibility modifiers.

yes, every class should specify its own visibility.
Inheritance here does not make any sense, you only will be able to use
private classes at the cost of your entire class hierarchy being private too
.

I am certainly no expert, but I'm curious what the use case is for
class visibility modifiers?

On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 7:11 AM, Hannes Landeholm landeholm@gmail.com
wrote:

Currently I'm forced to use huge internal classes for my framework
because
dividing them into smaller classes would expose internal behavior to the
"outside"... the application layer.

This doesn't necessarily make sense to me. Isn't it the
end-developer's problem if they start instantiating classes in weird
ways?

Well, that depends on who is your end-user?
Current object model works well for small-to-mid size application, but it
does not allows to write safe libraries

safe: to don't break client code, because of wrong client code.

It doesn't seem the same as having a private method, since in that
case the end-developer presumably already has an object instance, and
you want to guide them to the correct interface for interacting with
it, whereas in an application, one would think that the end-developer
wouldn't simply be instantiating classes by themselves all over the
place.

Chad