Navigating Changes in Magic Methods

PHP magic methods are predefined hooks that interrupt the normal flow of an OOP application. Each magic method, if defined, alters the behavior of the application from the minute the object instance is created up until the point where the instance goes out of scope.

Note: An object instance goes out of scope when it’s unset or overwritten. Object instances also go out of scope when defined in a function or class method, and the execution of that function or class method ends. Ultimately, if for no other reason, an object instance goes out of scope when the PHP program ends.

Now, we will get a solid understanding of important changes to magic method usage and behavior introduced in PHP 8. Once we understand the situation, we will be in a position to make the appropriate code modifications to prevent our application code from failing should we migrate to PHP 8. ...