Manual includes vs autoloading in PHP - Hands-On Comparison

Manual includes vs autoloading in PHP

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple PHP project with multiple classes. You want to understand the difference between manually including class files and using autoloading to load classes automatically.

🎯 Goal: Create a PHP script that first uses manual include statements to load class files, then refactor it to use an autoloader function. You will see how autoloading simplifies your code.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create two PHP class files with exact class names and methods

Manually include these class files in a main script

Create an autoloader function using spl_autoload_register

Use the autoloader to instantiate classes without manual includes

Print messages from class methods to show successful loading

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

In real PHP projects, autoloading helps manage many class files without writing many include statements. It keeps code clean and easier to maintain.

💼 Career

Understanding autoloading is essential for PHP developers working on modern applications and frameworks like Laravel or Symfony.

1

Create two PHP class files

Create two PHP files named Car.php and Bike.php. In Car.php, define a class Car with a method drive() that returns the string "Car is driving". In Bike.php, define a class Bike with a method ride() that returns the string "Bike is riding".

PHP

# Create Car.php and Bike.php files with the described classes and methods

Need a hint?

Each class should be in its own file named exactly Car.php and Bike.php.

2

Manually include class files in main script

Create a PHP file named index.php. Use include statements to include Car.php and Bike.php. Then create objects $car of class Car and $bike of class Bike.

PHP

<?php
// Include Car.php and Bike.php
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use include 'Car.php'; and include 'Bike.php'; at the top of index.php.

3

Add autoloader function to load classes automatically

In index.php, remove the manual include statements. Instead, add an autoloader function using spl_autoload_register that loads class files by appending .php to the class name. Then create objects $car and $bike as before.

PHP

<?php
// Remove manual includes
// Add autoloader function
# Your code here

Need a hint?

The autoloader function should include the file named after the class with .php extension.

4

Print messages from class methods to show loading works

In index.php, add echo statements to print the results of $car->drive() and $bike->ride() on separate lines.

PHP

<?php
// Print the messages from drive() and ride() methods
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use echo $car->drive() . "\n"; and echo $bike->ride() . "\n"; to print messages.