Object-Oriented Programming, or OOP, refers to the method of programming that invokes the use of classes to organize the data and structure of an application. OOP started to become feasible with the release of PHP 4 but really came into its own with PHP 5. Now, as the world awaits the release of PHP 6 we await another great leap in the evolution of PHP OOP.

A brief history of OOP in PHP

OOP in PHP hasn’t always been a core feature. In fact, when it made its first appearance it was more an afterthought than anything else. While primitive OOP support was added in PHP3, developers only started using it heavily in PHP4, where it started to gain real momentum. With that in mind, PHP 5 was designed with objects very much at the forefront of developers’ minds. What we now have is a system in place that permits the design of extremely complex systems through effective OOP designs.

Basics of OOP in PHP

Object-oriented programming is nothing but a technique to design your application. An application could be any type like it could be a web-based application, OOP is a design concept. In object-oriented programming, everything will be around the objects and class. By using OOP in PHP you can create a modular web application. By using OOP in PHP we can perform any activity in the object model structure. There are many benefits of using oop over parallel or procedural programming. Further in this part, we will cover some basic object and class and its implementation in PHP.