PHP: Best practice regarding "public" visibility in OOP

Question

Do you always add public beside methods and properties inside your classes? Or do you leave it out?

1. Option 1, without public:

<?php
class SimpleClass {
    // property declaration
    $var = 'a default value';

    // method declaration
    function displayVar() {
        echo $this->var;
    }
}
?>

2. Option 2, with public:

<?php
class SimpleClass {
    // property declaration
    public $var = 'a default value';

    // method declaration
    public function displayVar() {
        echo $this->var;
    }
}
?>

Personally I think adding public adds a little more clarity to the code, though what is considered best practice?

I don't think it really makes any difference - personal preference. The key thing is to be consistent. — Mansfield
Yes, if you don't want to follow a standard. It comes down to personal preference I guess. I am going to stick to always adding public :) — MrZiggyStardust

fsw fsw · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-25T09:52:58

Best practice is to pick up a coding standard and follow it (and put info about it somewhere in your code).

I guess PSR is most commonly used in PHP:

https://github.com/php-fig/fig-standards/tree/master/accepted

and according to PSR-2:

"Visibility MUST be declared on all properties."

so second option would be a way to go.

you can also check this:

http://www.phptherightway.com/

PHP: Best practice regarding "public" visibility in OOP

3 Answers