Abstract, Final classes & methods and Interface in PHP

Abstract Class
Abstract classes are those classes which can not be directly initialized. Or in other word we can say that you can not create object of abstract classes. Abstract classes always created for inheritance purpose. You can only inherit abstract class in your child class.
Usually abstract class are also known as base class. We call it base class because abstract class are not the class which is available directly for creating object. It can only act as parent class of any normal class. You can use abstract class in class hierarchy. Mean one abstract class can inherit another abstract class also.

In abstract classes this is not necessary that every method should be abstract. Method in abstract class in php could be public, private, protected. You can create abstract classes in php using abstract keyword. Once you will make any class abstract in php you can not create object of that class.

abstract class abc
{
public function xyz()
{
return 1;
}
}
$a = new abc();//this will throw error in php

Above code will throw error in php.

Abstract classes in php are only for inheriting in other class.

abstract class testParent
{
public function abc()
{
//body of your funciton
}
}
class testChild extends testParent
{
public function xyz()
{
//body of your function
}
}
$a = new testChild();

In above example you are creating of testChild Class. TestChild class is inheriting testParent abstract class. So your abstract class is only available for inheritance. Main motive of creating abstract classes in php is to apply restriction of direct initialization or object creation.

Abstract method
As we know that abstract functions are those functions of abstract class which is only defined. It will be declared in your child class. You can create any method abstract using keyword abstract. You can only create abstract method either in abstract class or interface. Following is example of the abstract method implementation:

abstract class abc
{
abstract protected function f1($a , $b);
}
class xyz extends abc
{
protected function f1($name , $address)
{
echo "$name , $address";
}
}
$a = new xyz();

In class abc we have defined an abstract function f1. Now when we have inherited class abc then declared function f1. If you have an abstract method in your abstract class then once you inherit your abstract class then it is necessary to declare your abstract method. If you will not declare your abstract method then PHP will throw error in that case.

You can declare your abstract method in child class with the same visibility or less restricted visibility.

abstract class parentTest
{
abstract protected function f1();
abstract public function f2();
//abstract private function f3(); //this will trhow error
}
class childTest
{
public function f1()
{
//body of your function
}
public function f2()
{
//body of your function
}
protected function f3()
{
//body of your function
}
}
$a = new childTest();

In above code you can see that you have declare 3 function in abstract class. But private declaration of the abstract method will always throw error. Because private method is available only in the same class context. But in case of f1. This is protected. Now in child class we have defined it as public because public is less restricted than protected. And for function f2 which is already public so we have defined it as public in our child class. We have defined it public because no any visibility is less restricted than public.

Final class
A final class is a class that cannot be extended. To declare a class as final, you need to prefix the ‘class’ keyword with ‘final’. Example below.

final class BaseClass {
   public function myMethod() {
      echo "BaseClass method called";
   }
}
 
//this will cause Compile error
class DerivedClass extends BaseClass {
   public function myMethod() {
      echo "DerivedClass method called";
   }
}
 
$c = new DerivedClass();
$c->myMethod();

In the above example, BaseClass is declared as final and hence cannot be extended (inherited). DerivedClass tries to extend from BaseClass and hence the compiler will throw a compile error.

Final Method
A final method is a method that cannot be overridden. To declare a method as final, you need to prefix the function name with the ‘final’ keyword. Example below:

class BaseClass {
   final public function myMethod() {
      echo "BaseClass method called";
   }
}
 
class DerivedClass extends BaseClass {
   //this will cause Compile error
   public function myMethod() {
      echo "DerivedClass method called";
   }
}
 
$c = new DerivedClass();
$c->myMethod();

In the above example, DerivedClass extends from BaseClass. BaseClass has the method myMethod() declared as final and this cannot be overridden. In this case the compiler causes a compile error.

When to declare a class as final
You should declare a class as final when you think that you implementation of that class should not change in the derived class. You should do this mainly for Utility classes where you don’t want the behavior/implementation of your class to change.

When to declare a method as final
You should declare a class method as final when you think that the method you develop contains necessary functionality to support your application and any modification or change to the functionality can cause unexpected errors/bugs.

Interface in PHP
You can create interface in php using keyword interface. By implementation of interface in php class you are specifying set of the method which classes must implement. You can create interface in php using interface keyword. Rest of the things are typically identical to classes. Following is very small example of interface in php.

interface abc
{
public function xyz($b);
}

So in above code you are creating interface with name abc. Interface abc has function xyz. Whenever you will implement abc interface in your class then you have to create method with name xyz. If you will not create function xyz then it will throw error.

You can implement your interface in your class using implements keyword. Let us implement our interface abc in our class.

class test implements abc
{
public function xyz($b)
{
//your function body
}
}

You can only define method in interface with public accessibility. If you will use other than public visibility in interface then it will throw error. Also while defining method in your interface do not use abstract keyword in your methods.

You can also extend interface like class. You can extend interface in php using extends keyword.

interface template1
{
public function f1();
}
interface template2 extends template1
{
public function f2();
}
class abc implements template2
{
public function f1()
{
//Your function body
}
public function f2()
{
//your function body
}
}

So here template2 has all property of template2. So whenever you will implement template2 in your class, you have to create function of both interfaces.

You can also extend multiple interface in one interface in php.

interface template1
{
public function f1();
}
interface template2
{
public function f2();
}
interface template3 extends template1, template2
{
public function f3();
}
class test implements template3
{
public function f1()
{
//your function body
}
public function f2()
{
//your function body
}
public function f3()
{
//your function body
}
}

You can also implement more than one interface in php class.

interface template1
{
public function f1();
}
interface template2
{
public function f2();
}
class test implements template1, template2
{
public function f1()
{
//your function body
}
public function f2()
{
//your function body
}
}

You can not implement 2 interfaces if both share function with same name. It will throw error.

Your function parameter in class must be identical to the parameter in the interface signature. Following is example some example.

interface template1
{
public function f1($a)
}
class test implements template1
{
public function f1($a)
{
echo $a;
}
}

Above will work. But following example will not work:

interface template1
{
public function f1($a)
}
class test implements template1
{
public function f1()
{
echo $a;
}
}

But it is not necessary to use the same name of the variable. Like $a. You can also use any name. For example:

interface template1
{
public function f1($a)
}
class test implements template1
{
public function f1($name)
{
echo $name;
}
}

If you are using default argument then you can change your value of the argument. For example

interface template1
{
public function f1($a = 20)
}
class test implements template1
{
public function f1($name  = "ankur")
{
echo $name;
}
}

Source: http://www.techflirt.com/tutorials/oop-in-php/abstract-classes-interface.html
http://www.sunilb.com/php/php-5-tutorial-final-class-and-methods