Why does PHP 5 use __contruct() instead of className() as constructor?

Question

Why should I usefunction __construct() instead of function className() in PHP 5?

Answer 1

The __ magic methods/functions seem to be a consistent theme in PHP (for once!). One advantage of using __construct() over ClassName() as a constructor is if you change the name of the class, you don't need to update the constructor.

Answer 2

Because php5 wanted to be more like python.

I kid, I kid...

Having a standard method for standard actions, like construction, is a reasonable solution. It's the same reason that in C# classes, when you extend a class, you use base for calling base class constructors instead of a named object: it simplifies code and makes maintenance easier.

Answer 3

Because it has been unified with the __destruct() method and other special methods beginning with two underscores for example __get, __sleep, __serialize http://us2.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.magic.php

Answer 4

My guess would be that by the time object-oriented capability was being added to PHP, the designers were looking at Python.