Static class initializer in PHP

Question

I have an helper class with some static functions. All the functions in the class require a ‘heavy’ initialization function to run once (as if it were a constructor).

Is there a good practice for achieving this?

The only thing I thought of was calling an init function, and breaking its flow if it has already run once (using a static $initialized var). The problem is that I need to call it on every one of the class’s functions.

Answer 1

Sounds like you'd be better served by a singleton rather than a bunch of static methods

class Singleton {   /**    *     * @var Singleton    */   private static $instance;    private function __construct()   {     // Your "heavy" initialization stuff here   }    public static function getInstance()   {     if ( is_null( self::$instance ) )     {       self::$instance = new self();     }     return self::$instance;   }    public function someMethod1()   {     // whatever   }    public function someMethod2()   {     // whatever   } } 

And then, in usage

// As opposed to this Singleton::someMethod1();  // You'd do this Singleton::getInstance()->someMethod1();