Categories

PHP OOP in the Real World: Balancing Purity with Practicality for Maintainable Code

Donate with

82uymVXLkvVbB4c4JpTd1tYm1yj1cKPKR2wqmw3XF8YXKTmY7JrTriP4pVwp2EJYBnCFdXhLq4zfFA6ic7VAWCFX5wfQbCC

Copy Monero Donation Address

Donate with

Donate BAT now

Verified BAT publisher

Introduction

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a cornerstone of modern software development. In PHP, the OOP paradigm has evolved from a simple class-based structure to a powerful toolkit supporting advanced features like traits, namespaces, and interfaces. However, real-world applications don’t always allow for textbook purity. In this post, we explore how to apply PHP OOP principles practically, balancing purity with pragmatism to write code that is not only clean—but also maintainable and scalable.

Why OOP Matters in PHP

While PHP began its journey as a procedural scripting language, the adoption of OOP has brought structure, reusability, and robustness to codebases. PHP’s class model allows developers to architect software systems that are modular and testable. But in reality, clean architecture often collides with deadlines, team skill sets, and the scale of the project.

Benefits of Using OOP in PHP

• Encapsulation of logic for better abstraction
• Improved code reusability via inheritance and interfaces
• Easier testing with dependency injection
• Better collaboration with consistent, scalable patterns

A Small Refresh of Core OOP Concepts in PHP – With Examples

Encapsulation: Keep It Together

Encapsulation helps you group data (properties) and behaviors (methods) together. This makes your objects more predictable and reduces the risk of side effects.

class User {
    private string $name;
    private string $email;

    public function __construct(string $name, string $email) {
        $this->name = $name;
        $this->email = $email;
    }

    public function getName(): string {
        return $this->name;
    }

    public function getEmail(): string {
        return $this->email;
    }
}

$user = new User("Jane Doe", "jane@example.com");
echo $user->getName();

// Output:
Jane Doe

Inheritance: Reuse with Care

Inheritance promotes code reuse, but deep hierarchies can make your code hard to follow. Keep it shallow, and favor composition when things get complex.

class Vehicle {
    protected string $brand;

    public function __construct(string $brand) {
        $this->brand = $brand;
    }

    public function getBrand(): string {
        return $this->brand;
    }
}

class Car extends Vehicle {
    private int $doors;

    public function __construct(string $brand, int $doors) {
        parent::__construct($brand);
        $this->doors = $doors;
    }

    public function getDoors(): int {
        return $this->doors;
    }
}

$car = new Car("Toyota", 4);
echo $car->getBrand() . " - " . $car->getDoors() . " doors";

// Output:
Toyota - 4 doors

Polymorphism: Design for Flexibility

Polymorphism allows us to write code that can work with objects of different types through a shared interface or base class. It’s a key part of achieving flexible and interchangeable components.

interface Logger {
    public function log(string $message): void;
}

class FileLogger implements Logger {
    public function log(string $message): void {
        echo "Logging to file: $message";
    }
}

class EmailLogger implements Logger {
    public function log(string $message): void {
        echo "Sending log email: $message";
    }
}

function logSomething(Logger $logger) {
    $logger->log("System error occurred.");
}

logSomething(new EmailLogger());

// Output:
Sending log email: System error occurred.

Balancing Purity and Practicality

The Trap of Overengineering

While design patterns and SOLID principles are great, applying them everywhere often leads to overengineering. For example, abstracting everything into interfaces when there's only one implementation adds needless complexity.

// Too much abstraction for a simple config loader
interface ConfigLoader {
    public function load(): array;
}

class JsonConfigLoader implements ConfigLoader {
    public function load(): array {
        return json_decode(file_get_contents("config.json"), true);
    }
}

Instead: Keep it simple unless you expect multiple config formats or extension later.

class Config {
    public static function load(): array {
        return json_decode(file_get_contents("config.json"), true);
    }
}

Know When to Break the Rules

Strict adherence to OOP purity isn't always ideal. In some cases, using a static utility class or even procedural code might be more readable or performant.

Refactoring for Maintainability

Balance is not about abandoning OOP—it’s about knowing when to optimize for clarity. Here’s an example of refactoring a procedural script to a basic OOP structure:

// Before
$data = file_get_contents('users.json');
$users = json_decode($data);
foreach ($users as $user) {
    echo $user->name;
}

// After
class UserRepository {
    public function all(): array {
        $data = file_get_contents('users.json');
        return json_decode($data);
    }
}

$repo = new UserRepository();
foreach ($repo->all() as $user) {
    echo $user->name;
}

// Output:
John
Jane
Alex

When to Apply Which Pattern

Use Strategy for Behavior Switching

Need to switch behavior without conditionals? Try the Strategy pattern.

interface PaymentMethod {
    public function pay(float $amount): void;
}

class PayPal implements PaymentMethod {
    public function pay(float $amount): void {
        echo "Paid $amount using PayPal";
    }
}

class CreditCard implements PaymentMethod {
    public function pay(float $amount): void {
        echo "Paid $amount using Credit Card";
    }
}

class Checkout {
    public function process(PaymentMethod $method, float $amount): void {
        $method->pay($amount);
    }
}

$checkout = new Checkout();
$checkout->process(new CreditCard(), 49.99);

// Output:
Paid 49.99 using Credit Card

Conclusion

PHP's OOP features can help you write clean, maintainable, and modular code—but only when applied with pragmatism. The real world is messy, and business constraints often require trade-offs. Understanding when to follow the rules and when to bend them is what separates good developers from great ones.

Use encapsulation to contain complexity, inheritance for reusability, and interfaces for flexibility—but always with purpose. Avoid overengineering and remember: maintainable code is better than perfect code.

Further Reading

• PHP OOP Documentation
• Design Patterns in OOP
• PHP: The Right Way