PHP
PHP

Use inside class versus outside class

Recently, I've had to put Use inside a class but I've always seen it put outside the class. What's the difference? When do I need to put it inside and when do I need to put it outside? If I put it outside, I get an error saying that I have an undefined method.

class MY_Controller extends CI_Controller
{
	use Auth;
}

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use Auth;
class MY_Controller extends CI_Controller
{
}

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Zoe ZoeAsked: 2015-07-25

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LVL 66

Julian HansenCommented: 2015-07-25

I suspect Auth is a trait

Refer to the documentation here

http://php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.traits.php

LVL 11

Kanti PrasadCommented: 2015-07-25

Hi

The purpose of USE is to bring one class from another namespace, but functionally there is no difference. Using USE will help you change your implementation with ease as you only need to make changes in few places only. Also if the namespaces path is long then it might be difficult to type the whole path each time when one need to instantiate that class.

LVL 111

Ray PaseurCommented: 2015-07-25

The keyword "use" is overloaded in PHP and can have more than one meaning. Here are some of the references. In my opinion, multiple inheritance is an anti-pattern with lots of potential for confusion among team members. I recommend avoiding it. Namespaces, OTOH reduce the risk of confusion. And auto-loading is a necessity.

http://php.net/manual/en/language.namespaces.basics.php
http://php.net/manual/en/language.namespaces.faq.php
http://php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.traits.php
http://php.net/manual/en/function.trait-exists.php
http://php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.autoload.php

"Use" is also part of that curious admixture of scopes in PHP's implementation of lambda functions.

http://php.net/manual/en/functions.anonymous.php
http://php.net/manual/en/class.closure.php

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