Why to use getter setters for doctrine2 classes

Question

Why we generally use getter setters for doctrine2 classes to save and get data?

like below:

<?php
// src/Product.php
class Product
{
    /**
     * @var int
     */
    protected $id;
    /**
     * @var string
     */
    protected $name;

    public function getId()
    {
        return $this->id;
    }

    public function getName()
    {
        return $this->name;
    }

    public function setName($name)
    {
        $this->name = $name;
    }
}

If we make the the class properties public we can save the data without getter setters. Isn't it?

<?php
// src/Product.php
class Product
{
    /**
     * @var int
     */
    public $id;
    /**
     * @var string
     */
    public $name;
}

Answer 1

1. You can't create proxy calls on properties which are required for lazy loaded elements. That is quite heavly used tool by Doctrine.
2. Getters and setters gives you more flexibility in general than properties.
3. If overhead of getters and setters is a true issue you should probably consider switching from PHP to some "faster-in-general" platform.