Understanding Method and Property Overriding in PHP Classes

Definition: Overriding (override) occurs when a subclass defines a member with the same name as one in its parent class, allowing the subclass to replace the parent’s member, typically to extend or modify business logic.

Property overriding: Whether a property is public or protected , once overridden, the parent’s property no longer exists in the child; private properties are not lost because they are not inherited.

Example of property overriding:

<?php
class A {
    public $name = '张三';
    protected $sex = 'man';
    private $age = '25';
    public function getName(){ echo __CLASS__, '<br/>'; echo $this->name."<br>"; }
    protected function getSex(){ echo __CLASS__, '<br/>'; echo $this->sex."<br>"; }
    private function getAge(){ echo __CLASS__, '<br/>'; echo $this->age."<br>"; }
}
class B extends A {
    public $name = '王五';
    protected $sex = 'woman';
    private $age = '26';
    public function getAll(){
        echo $this->name."<br>";
        echo $this->sex."<br>";
        echo $this->age."<br>";
    }
}
$a = new B();
var_dump($a);
$a->getAll(); // 王五 woman 26
?>

The dump shows that the public and protected properties are replaced by the child’s values, while both the child’s and parent’s private $age properties exist separately.

Conclusion: Public and protected properties are directly overridden; private properties are not inherited and therefore remain unaffected. Public and protected methods can be overridden, but private methods cannot because they are not inherited.

Method overriding requirements:

The visibility of the overriding method cannot be more restrictive than the parent’s method (e.g., a private method cannot override a protected one).

The overriding method must have the same parameter list as the parent method.

Private methods are not subject to these rules because they are not inherited.

Example of correct method overriding with matching parameters:

<?php
class A {
    protected function show(){ echo __CLASS__, '<br/>'; }
}
class B extends A {
    protected function show(){}          // allowed
    public function show(){}             // allowed
    private function show(){}           // error: more restrictive
}
?>

Example of parameter mismatch (error):

<?php
class A { protected function show(){} }
class B extends A {
    public function show($a){} // error: parameter list differs
}
?>

Since private methods are not inherited, redefining them in a subclass does not constitute overriding and causes no error:

<?php
class A { private function show(){} }
class B extends A {
    private function show($name){ echo $name.'<br/>'; }
}
?>

When a subclass wants to retain the parent’s behavior while extending it, the parent keyword is used:

<?php
class A { protected function show(){ echo __CLASS__, '<br/>'; } }
class B extends A {
    public function show(){
        parent::show(); // call parent implementation
        // additional logic
        echo __CLASS__, '<br/>'; 
    }
}
?>

The parent keyword can access static properties, static methods, class constants, and regular (non‑private) methods, but not private properties or methods of the parent class.

Overall, the article demonstrates how PHP handles overriding of properties and methods, the constraints involved, and best practices for using parent to extend inherited functionality.