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get_class

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

get_class — Returns the name of the class of an object

Description

get_class(object $object = ?): string

Gets the name of the class of the given object.

Parameters

object

The tested object.

Note: Explicitly passing null as the object is no longer allowed as of PHP 7.2.0 and emits an E_WARNING. As of PHP 8.0.0, a TypeError is emitted when null is used.

Return Values

Returns the name of the class of which object is an instance.

If the object is an instance of a class which exists in a namespace, the qualified namespaced name of that class is returned.

Errors/Exceptions

If get_class() is called with anything other than an object, TypeError is raised. Prior to PHP 8.0.0, an E_WARNING level error was raised.

If get_class() is called with no arguments from outside a class, an Error is thrown. Prior to PHP 8.0.0, an E_WARNING level error was raised.

Changelog

Version Description
8.3.0 Calling get_class() without an argument now emits an E_DEPRECATED warning; previously, calling this function inside a class returned the name of that class.
8.0.0 Calling this function from outside a class, without any arguments, will now throw an Error. Previously, an E_WARNING was raised and the function returned false.
7.2.0 Prior to this version the default value for object was null and it had the same effect as not passing any value. Now null has been removed as the default value for object, and is no longer a valid input.

Examples

Example #1 Using get_class()

<?php

class foo {
function name()
{
echo "My name is " , get_class($this) , "\n";
}
}

// create an object
$bar = new foo();

// external call
echo "Its name is " , get_class($bar) , "\n";

// internal call
$bar->name();

?>

The above example will output:

Its name is foo
My name is foo

Example #2 Using get_class() in superclass

<?php

abstract class bar {
public function __construct()
{
var_dump(get_class($this));
var_dump(get_class());
}
}

class foo extends bar {
}

new foo;

?>

The above example will output:

string(3) "foo"
string(3) "bar"

Example #3 Using get_class() with namespaced classes

<?php

namespace Foo\Bar;

class Baz {
public function __construct()
{

}
}

$baz = new \Foo\Bar\Baz;

var_dump(get_class($baz));
?>

The above example will output:

string(11) "Foo\Bar\Baz"

See Also