Applying OOP Design Patterns in PHP

Hello! Today, we'll venture into the realm of design patterns. Specifically, we'll tackle exercises that apply a single design pattern to problem-solving. Mastering these patterns is a surefire way to extend your coding skills.

Our goal today is to fortify your understanding of when and how to apply specific Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) design patterns. These patterns include Encapsulation, Abstraction, Polymorphism, and Composition.

We'll dissect four real-life scenarios and distinguish which pattern is applicable and why.

Let's get underway!

The Encapsulation pattern proves beneficial for the development of a Database Management System (DBMS). Each DBMS table represents a class, the fields represent private data members, and the functions operating on this data serve as methods.

Encapsulation ensures that data members are accessed through methods that promote data integrity and prevent inadvertent anomalies. Here's a mini-code snippet to support this concept:

<?php

class Employees {
    private $employees = []; // private data member

    public function addEmployee($eid, $name) { // method to operate on private data
        $this->employees[$eid] = $name;
    }

    public function updateEmployee($eid, $newName) { // method to operate on private data
        if (array_key_exists($eid, $this->employees)) {
            $this->employees[$eid] = $newName;
        }
    }

    public function getEmployee($eid) { // getter method for private data
        return array_key_exists($eid, $this->employees) ? $this->employees[$eid] : null;
    }
}

$employees = new Employees();
$employees->addEmployee(1, "John");
$employees->addEmployee(2, "Mark");

$employees->updateEmployee(2, "Jake");

echo $employees->getEmployee(1); // Outputs: John
echo "\n";
echo $employees->getEmployee(2); // Outputs: Jake
?>

In this context, Encapsulation restricts direct access to employee data, presenting a protective layer via designated methods.

When transitioning to GUI development, consider the creation of controls like buttons or checkboxes. Despite belonging to the same class, each responds differently when clicked. This situation illustrates Polymorphism, which allows us to handle different objects uniformly via a common interface.

Check out this illustrative example:

<?php

abstract class Control {
    public function click() {
        // method that can be overridden
    }
}

class Button extends Control {
    public function click() {
        echo "Button Clicked!\n"; // overridden method
    }
}

class CheckBox extends Control {
    public function click() {
        echo "CheckBox Clicked!\n"; // overridden method
    }
}

$b = new Button();
$c = new CheckBox();

// Click Controls
$b->click(); // Outputs: Button Clicked!
$c->click(); // Outputs: CheckBox Clicked!
?>

Despite sharing the common click interface, different controls display unique responses. This characteristic demonstrates Polymorphism.