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Object-Oriented Programming in PHP

Access Modifiers: Public vs Private

Explore how public and private access modifiers in PHP manage access to class properties and methods. Understand how to use getters and setters to safely interact with private properties, enhancing the security and encapsulation in your PHP object-oriented programs.

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The public access modifier

The public access modifier allows code from both outside and inside the class to access the class’s methods and properties.

How to access a public property

In the following example, the class’s property and method are defined as public, so the code outside the class can directly interact with them.

PHP
<?php
class Car {
  // Public methods and properties
  public $model;
  public function getModel() 
  {
    return "The car model is " . $this -> model; 
  }
}
$mercedes = new Car();
// Here we access a property from outside the class
$mercedes -> model = "Mercedes";
// Here again we access another method from outside the class
echo $mercedes -> getModel();
?>

In line 15, we set the public property $model ...