php / php/doc-en

Static in combination with anonymous class does not behave as expected

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Description

Description

The following code:

<?php

function createTestClass() {
	$test = new class() {
		static public $initialised = false;

		static public function __init() {
			if (self::$initialised) {
				throw new Exception("Already initialised.");
			}

			self::$initialised = true;
		}
	};

	$test::__init();
}

createTestClass();
createTestClass();

Resulted in this output (see here):

PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught Exception: Already initialised. in /Users/marco/Desktop/script.php:9
Stack trace:
#0 /Users/marco/Desktop/script.php(16): class@anonymous::__init()
php/php-src#1 /Users/marco/Desktop/script.php(20): createTestClass()
php/php-src#2 {main}
  thrown in /Users/marco/Desktop/script.php on line 9

Fatal error: Uncaught Exception: Already initialised. in /Users/marco/Desktop/script.php:9
Stack trace:
#0 /Users/marco/Desktop/script.php(16): class@anonymous::__init()
php/php-src#1 /Users/marco/Desktop/script.php(20): createTestClass()
php/php-src#2 {main}
  thrown in /Users/marco/Desktop/script.php on line 9

But I expected this output instead:

I'm not sure whether this is by design or really a bug.
The documentation makes no mention of the usage of static with anonymous classes.

However, I do not expect that behaviour since I'm literally creating a new class (new class()), so why should it share its static variables with other "instances" (not class instance here) of the same class?

PHP Version

8.1.11

Operating System

Irrelevant

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First steps

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the reproduction in the issue body and review the PHP documentation for anonymous classes, static properties, and static methods. Compare the documented behavior with the PHP 8.1.11 example; done means the intended behavior is clarified and the relevant documentation gap or defect has a clear resolution.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
php
Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
28/100

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