1.2.263. Could Be Private Class Constant

Class constant may use private visibility.

Since PHP 7.1, constants may also have a public/protected/private visibility. This restrict their usage to anywhere, class and children or class.

As a general rule, it is recommended to make constant private by default, and to relax this restriction as needed. PHP makes them public by default. Constant shall stay public when the code has to be compatible with PHP 7.0 and older.

They also have to be public in the case of component : some of those constants have to be used by external actors, in order to configure the component.

<?php

class foo {
    // pre-7.1 style
    const PRE_71_CONSTANT = 1;

    // post-7.1 style
    private const PRIVATE_CONSTANT = 2;
    public const PUBLIC_CONSTANT = 3;

    function bar() {
        // PRIVATE CONSTANT may only be used in its class
        echo self::PRIVATE_CONSTANT;
    }
}

// Other constants may be used anywhere
function x($a = foo::PUBLIC_CONSTANT) {
    echo $a.' '.foo:PRE_71_CONSTANT;
}

?>

See also Class Constants.

1.2.263.1. Connex PHP features

1.2.263.1.1. Specs

Short name

Classes/CouldBePrivateConstante

Rulesets

All, Changed Behavior, Class Review

Exakat since

0.12.10

PHP Version

All

Severity

Minor

Time To Fix

Quick (30 mins)

Precision

Very high

Examples

Phinx

Available in

Entreprise Edition, Exakat Cloud