Glossary

PHP Magic Methods

Magic methods are special double-underscore methods (__method) that PHP calls automatically during certain operations on an object. They allow you to override the default behaviour of a class.

Most important

__construct() — called on new ClassName()
__destruct() — when the object is destroyed
__get($name) / __set($name, $value) — access to non-existent or protected properties
__call($name, $args) — calling a non-existent method
__toString() — object-to-string conversion
__invoke() — calling the object like a function: $obj()
__clone() — after object cloning
__serialize() / __unserialize() — serialisation control

Caution

Magic methods are slower than regular ones. __get/__set hinder static analysis — the IDE cannot "see" the properties. Use them only where dynamic behaviour is genuinely needed.