Protected in PHP

Keywords are basically a set of special words that are reserved in every programming language for a specific purpose. They can be either commands or parameters and they cannot be used for common use like variable names. Protected in PHP are predefined in all languages including PHP and also called reserved names.

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There are 5 kinds of access modifiers in PHP:

• Public
• Private
• Protected
• Abstract
• Final

We shall concentrate on only protected access modifiers in this article. Apart from variables, protected keywords are also used for declaring methods/functions and properties as protected. Unless specified explicitly, all the variables and methods will be public by default. The protected variable decreases the visibility of the respective variable or method because its access is restricted to the class in which it is declared. Protected access modifiers cannot be applied for classes.

However, they can be called by a subclass which is inherited from its parent class. Hence one can declare the required method or a variable as protected by prefixing it with a “protected” keyword.

Syntax

<?php
//declaration of protected variable
protected $<variable_name> = value;
//declaration of protected property
protected $proc = 'protected property';
//declaration of protected function
protected function function_name(){
//PHP code goes here
}
?>

Here we can see that using protected keyword we are declaring both variable and function names.

Working of protected modifiers in PHP: Like the private access modifier, we can also use protected for restricting the usage and accessing of class functions and variables outside of the class. But one exception of protected from private variables is that they can be accessed through inheritance from its parent class in a subclass.

Examples of Protected Variable and Method

Let us understand the usage and working of protected modifier in detail by taking a simple example below:

Example #1

Code:

<?php
// Declaration of Main class
class Math {
protected $a = 30;
protected $b = 10;
// Declaration of division function
function division()
{
echo $div=$this->a/$this->b;
echo "\n";
}
protected function multiply()
{
echo $mul=$this->a*$this->b;
echo "\n";
}
}
// Declaration of child class addn inherited from above class
class addn extends Math {
// Declaration of addition function
function addition()
{
echo $division=$this->a+$this->b;
}
}
$obj= new addn;
$obj->division();
$obj->addition();
$obj->multiply();
?>

Output:

After commenting on line 29 which is trying to call the protected method

In the above example, we are showcasing the different mathematical operations like addition, division, and multiplication. First, we are declaring division() function without any access modifier. Hence by default, it is public and the division value we are performing on both variables a and b are displayed in the output when we call the function by creating its object. But when we try to call the protected function multiply() we get the error inline 34 saying that protected method cannot be called.

Whereas we can call and get the value of a protected method via inheritance as shown. Here the child class and is inherited from parent class Math and hence we are able to call the protected variables a and b without any error.

Example #2

Code:

<?php
class Animal {
// Declaration of protected variable $animal
protected $animal = array("Dog", "Cat", "Cow");
// Declaration of protected function for Animal description
protected function getDescription($animal) {
if($animal == "Dog") {
echo "Dogs are the most loyal animals";
}
else if($animal == "Cat") {
echo "Cats are very smart";
}
else if($animal == "Cow") {
echo "Cows are worshipped in India";
}
}
}
// Declaration of sub class of above Animal class
class Dog extends Animal {
protected $animal = "Dog";
// Declaration of public function to print dog's description
public function getDogDescription() {
// Here we call the protected getDescription() method of parent class Animal
$this->getDescription($this->animal);
}
}
// Creating an object of class Animal
$animal = new Animal();
// Creating an object of subclass Dog
$dog = new Dog();
/*
Trying to access protected variables and methods
*/
echo $animal->animal; // Cannot be accessed
$animal->getDescription("Dog"); // Cannot be accessed
echo $dog->animal; // Cannot be accessed
/*
We can call getDogDescription method,
in which we are calling a protected method
of Animal class
*/
$dog->getDogDescription();
?>

Output:

After commenting line 34

After commenting lines 35 and 36

In this example, we are first declaring the main parent class Animal and initializing a protected variable as $animal which is an array containing names of 3 different animals. Next, we are also declaring a protected function in which we are giving a unique description to each of the animals in the array.

Since protected variables can be accessed using subclass, we are here creating another subclass Dog from the parent class Animal. Also to showcase that public functions can be accessed anywhere, we declare a public function to output variable dog’s description.

Next, we create an object of both classes Animal and Dog and try to access their variables which are protected. Hence for lines 40, 41 and 42, we get a fatal error telling that protected properties/methods/variables cannot be accessed. Hence we cannot access any variables outside of class Animal since all are protected.

Importance of Protected in PHP

• The protected modifier basically reduces the visibility of the variable/method and hence is more secure than public access modifier which can be accessed anywhere.
• Only subclasses can access protected methods and not by any class.
• The utility of the class is made very clear when we are making it as protected. This is really helpful when there is a bunch of data and we need to put a definite mark on this one.
• Protected variables and members are public to the class in which they are declared and also it’s child class which inherits this property from the parent class.
• It provides second level security, one less than private which is most secure and next to public modifiers that are not that secure.
• It helps the developer describe the shareable members and non-shareable ones and helps confine them within the walls of the class.

Conclusion

Hence protected variables are those access modifiers that are used for controlling specifically defined variables or methods or properties in a class. It needs to be explicitly specified by prefixing and hence can be accessed only within its declared package and by a subclass that inherits from the parent package.

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