Interfaces

Interfaces allow you to specify what methods a class should implement.

Interfaces make it easy to use a variety of different classes in the same way. When one or more classes use the same interface, it is referred to as "polymorphism".

Interfaces are declared with the interface keyword.

<?php
interface InterfaceName {
  public function someMethod1();
  public function someMethod2($name, $color);
  public function someMethod3() : string;
}
?>

Interfaces vs. Abstract Classes

Interface are similar to abstract classes. The difference between interfaces and abstract classes are:

• Interfaces cannot have properties, while abstract classes can
• All interface methods must be public, while abstract class methods is public or protected
• All methods in an interface are abstract, so they cannot be implemented in code and the abstract keyword is not necessary
• Classes can implement an interface while inheriting from another class at the same time

Using Interfaces

To implement an interface, a class must use the implements keyword.

A class that implements an interface must implement all of the interface's methods.

The implements keyword is used to declare that a class must have the methods described in the specified interface. This is called polymorphism. Polymorphism makes it easy to use a variety of different objects in the same way.

<?php
interface Animal {
  public function makeSound();
}

class Cat implements Animal {
  public function makeSound() {
    echo "Meow";
  }
}

$animal = new Cat();
$animal->makeSound();
?>

<?php
// Interface definition
interface Animal {
  public function makeSound();
}

// Class definitions
class Cat implements Animal {
  public function makeSound() {
    echo " Meow ";
  }
}

class Dog implements Animal {
  public function makeSound() {
    echo " Bark ";
  }
}

class Mouse implements Animal {
  public function makeSound() {
    echo " Squeak ";
  }
}

// Create a list of animals
$cat = new Cat();
$dog = new Dog();
$mouse = new Mouse();
$animals = array($cat, $dog, $mouse);

// Tell the animals to make a sound
foreach($animals as $animal) {
  $animal->makeSound();
}
?>