what does $this mean within a class definition?

Question

As I continue to try and improve myself as a junior PHP developer, I have started to try break down other peoples work. I find it helps me understand, as well as giving me ideas.

Two things I do not get, in a PHP class, what $this means, and what array($this,'some_function') means when I would expect a function name in it's place.

Many thanks

This question appears to be off-topic because both questions have been answered before (see dupes in my answers) — Gordon, Aug 15 '13 at 05:27

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:09

8

Please see the PHP Manual on Classes and Objects. $this refers to the object instance. Also see these questions:

For array($this,'some_function') see the PHP manual on callbacks. In methods and functions that do accept callbacks, like call_user_func, it means call the method some_function on $this. See

Marking this as CW because it's not meant as an answer but the reason for closevoting as duplicate

edited May 23 '17 at 12:09

Community

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answered Sep 23 '10 at 08:55

Gordon

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why would we use this syntax, and not $this->some_function()? – Mild Fuzz Sep 24 '10 at 11:07
@Mild because `$this->some_function()` would execute the function, while `array($this, 'some_function')` does not and thus allows passing the function around for defered calling. – Gordon Sep 24 '10 at 11:18

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 23 '10 at 08:56

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$this is a class pointer. $this in class give access to class properties and methods.

answered Sep 23 '10 at 08:56

Alex Pliutau

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what does $this mean within a class definition?

2 Answers2

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