Autoloading Classes

Many developers writing object-oriented applications create one PHP source file per class definition. One of the biggest annoyances is having to write a long list of needed includes at the beginning of each script (one for each class).

In PHP 5, this is no longer necessary. The spl_autoload_register() function registers any number of autoloaders, enabling for classes and interfaces to be automatically loaded if they are currently not defined. By registering autoloaders, PHP is given a last chance to load the class or interface before it fails with an error.

Tip

Although the __autoload() function can also be used for autoloading classes and interfaces, it's preferred to use the spl_autoload_register() function. This is because it is a more flexible alternative (enabling for any number of autoloaders to be specified in the application, such as in third party libraries). For this reason, using __autoload() is discouraged and deprecated as of PHP 7.2.0.

Note:

Prior to PHP 5.3, exceptions thrown in the __autoload() function could not be caught in the catch block and would result in a fatal error. From PHP 5.3 and upwards, this is possible provided that if a custom exception is thrown, then the custom exception class is available. The __autoload() function may be used recursively to autoload the custom exception class.

Note:

Autoloading is not available if using PHP in CLI interactive mode.

Note:

If the class name is used e.g. in call_user_func() then it can contain some dangerous characters such as ../. It is recommended to not use the user-input in such functions or at least verify the input in __autoload().

Example #1 Autoload example

This example attempts to load the classes MyClass1 and MyClass2 from the files MyClass1.php and MyClass2.php respectively.

<?php
spl_autoload_register(function ($class_name) {
    include $class_name . '.php';
});

$obj  = new MyClass1();
$obj2 = new MyClass2(); 
?>

Example #2 Autoload other example

This example attempts to load the interface ITest.

<?php

spl_autoload_register(function ($name) {
    var_dump($name);
});

class Foo implements ITest {
}

/*
string(5) "ITest"

Fatal error: Interface 'ITest' not found in ...
*/
?>

Example #3 Autoloading with exception handling for 5.3.0+

This example throws an exception and demonstrates the try/catch block.

<?php
spl_autoload_register(function ($name) {
    echo "Want to load $name.\n";
    throw new Exception("Unable to load $name.");
});

try {
    $obj = new NonLoadableClass();
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage(), "\n";
}
?>

The above example will output:

Want to load NonLoadableClass.
Unable to load NonLoadableClass.

Example #4 Autoloading with exception handling for 5.3.0+ - Missing custom exception

This example throws an exception for a non-loadable, custom exception.

<?php
spl_autoload_register(function ($name) {
    echo "Want to load $name.\n";
    throw new MissingException("Unable to load $name.");
});

try {
    $obj = new NonLoadableClass();
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage(), "\n";
}
?>

The above example will output:

Want to load NonLoadableClass.
Want to load MissingException.

Fatal error: Class 'MissingException' not found in testMissingException.php on line 4

Autoloading Classes

See Also