__serialize and __unserialize in PHP - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Using __serialize and __unserialize in PHP

📖 Scenario: Imagine you have a simple PHP class representing a book in a library system. You want to save and restore the book's data easily using PHP's serialization features.

🎯 Goal: You will create a PHP class with __serialize and __unserialize methods to control how the book's data is saved and restored.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a class called Book with properties title and author

Add a __serialize method that returns an array with the book's data

Add a __unserialize method that restores the book's data from an array

Create an instance of Book with specific title and author

Serialize and then unserialize the book object

Print the restored book's title and author

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Serialization is used to save objects to files or databases and restore them later, such as saving user sessions or caching data.

💼 Career

Understanding how to customize serialization helps developers control data storage and transfer, which is important in backend development and data management.

1

Create the Book class with properties

Create a class called Book with public properties title and author. Then create an instance called $book with title set to '1984' and author set to 'George Orwell'.

PHP

<?php

// Create the Book class with public properties title and author
// Create an instance $book with title '1984' and author 'George Orwell'

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Define the class with two public properties. Then create an object and assign the values.

2

Add the __serialize method

Add a public method __serialize to the Book class that returns an array with keys 'title' and 'author' and their corresponding property values.

PHP

title = '1984';
$book->author = 'George Orwell';

// Your code here

Need a hint?

The __serialize method should return an array with the object's data.

3

Add the __unserialize method

Add a public method __unserialize to the Book class that accepts an array parameter $data and sets the title and author properties from the array keys 'title' and 'author'.

PHP

 $this->title,
            'author' => $this->author
        ];
    }

    // Add __unserialize method here

}

$book = new Book();
$book->title = '1984';
$book->author = 'George Orwell';

// Your code here

Need a hint?

The __unserialize method receives an array and sets the object's properties from it.

4

Serialize and unserialize the Book object and print

Serialize the $book object into $serialized. Then unserialize it back into $restoredBook. Finally, print the restored book's title and author using echo in the format: Title: 1984, Author: George Orwell.

PHP

 $this->title,
            'author' => $this->author
        ];
    }

    public function __unserialize(array $data): void {
        $this->title = $data['title'];
        $this->author = $data['author'];
    }
}

$book = new Book();
$book->title = '1984';
$book->author = 'George Orwell';

// Serialize $book into $serialized
// Unserialize $serialized into $restoredBook
// Print the restored book's title and author

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use serialize() and unserialize() functions. Then print the restored object's properties.