instance object can call static method but not static variable

Question

I am trying to wrap my head around the static keyword in PHP. Here I wrote a small piece of code where my person1 instance of Human can call a static method called sayRealname(). But when I try to call a public static variable it gives an error. What is the reason for that?

class Human{
    public static $age=34;
    public static $name='humpty dumpty';
    protected static $realname='al';

    public static function sayRealname(){
        echo self::$age;
    }
}

$person1=new Human();
echo $person1->name; // error
$person1->sayRealname(); // prints 34

FYI, if you just want to get it to work... `echo $person1::$name;` — Patrick Q, Mar 16 '16 at 20:41
ok thanks! but why i can access the static method using an arrow operator ? — AL-zami, Mar 16 '16 at 20:46
Calling the arrow function with arrow operator will throw an E_STRICT warning in current versions of PHP as well. — Matt, Mar 16 '16 at 20:54

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 17 '16 at 08:49

When you're accessing static content, you need to use the static operator ::.

On the other hand, the arrow operator -> is meant to be used in an instance context, which belongs to the particular instance upon it's being called.

You can read more about this in this part of the documentation.

instance object can call static method but not static variable

1 Answers1