How to chain method on a newly created object?

Question

In PHP 5.4+, the parser's been modified so you can do something like this

(new Foo())->xyz();

Wrap the instantiation in parenthesis, and chain away.

Prior to PHP 5.4, when you're using the

new Classname();

syntax, you can't chain a method call off the instantiation. It's a limitation of PHP 5.3's syntax. Once an object is instantiated, you can chain away.

One method I've seen used to get around this is a static instantiation method of some kind.

class Foo
{
    public function xyz()
    {
        echo "Called","\n";
        return $this;
    }

    static public function instantiate()
    {
        return new self();
    }
}


$a = Foo::instantiate()->xyz();

By wrapping the call to new in a static method, you can instantiate a class with method call, and you're then free to chain off that.

Define a global function like this:

function with($object){ return $object; }

You will then be able to call:

with(new Foo)->xyz();

In PHP 5.4 you can chain off a newly instantiated object:

http://docs.php.net/manual/en/migration54.new-features.php

For older versions of PHP, you can use Alan Storm's solution.

This answer is outdated - therefore want to correct it.

In PHP 5.4.x you can chain a method to a new-call. Let's take this class as example:

<?php class a {
    public function __construct() { echo "Constructed\n"; }
    public function foo() { echo "Foobar'd!\n"; }
}

Now, we can use this: $b = (new a())->foo();

And the output is:

Constructed
Foobar'd!

Further information may be found on the manual: http://www.php.net/manual/en/migration54.new-features.php