Explicit interface implementation in php

✔ Recommended Answer

PHP supports interfaces, so yes it is possible: http://php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.interfaces.php

PHP does not distinguish between implicit and explicit implementations.

Source: stackoverflow.com

Answered By: Jan Hančič

In PHP, explicit interface implementation is a way to define methods in a class that only implement methods defined in an interface, and not methods that are defined in the class itself.

To explicitly implement an interface in PHP, you need to prefix the method name with the name of the interface, followed by the :: operator. For example:

php
interface MyInterface {
    public function myMethod();
}

class MyClass implements MyInterface {
    public function myMethod() {
        // Implementation of MyInterface::myMethod()
    }
    
    public function anotherMethod() {
        // Implementation of MyClass::anotherMethod()
    }
}

In this example, MyClass implements the MyInterface interface by providing an implementation of the myMethod() method. Note that the myMethod() method in MyClass is prefixed with the name of the interface (MyInterface::) to indicate that it is an implementation of the myMethod() method defined in the interface.

If MyClass also defines a method called myMethod() without using the MyInterface:: prefix, it will not be considered as an implementation of the myMethod() method defined in the interface. This is because explicit interface implementation only applies to methods that are prefixed with the interface name.

Explicit interface implementation can be useful when you want to have two or more interfaces that define methods with the same name, but with different implementations. By using explicit interface implementation, you can provide different implementations for each interface method with the same name, without causing any naming conflicts in the implementing class.