1.2.965. Parent Is Not Static

The parent keyword behaves like self, not like static. It links to the parent of the defining expression, not to the one being called.

This may skip the parent of the calling class, and create a Undefined method call, or yield the wrong ::class value. It may also skip a local version of the method.

<?php

class w {
}

class x extends w {
    function foo() {
        parent::method();
    }

    // method() is in the parent of Y, but not in the one of X.
    function method() {
        print __METHOD__;
    }
}

class y extends x {}

(new y)->foo();
// print W::method
(new y)->method();
// print x::method

?>

1.2.965.1. Connex PHP features

• self

• static

• parent

1.2.965.1.1. Suggestions

• Use self keyword

• Use static keyword

• Use hard-coded class name keyword

1.2.965.1.2. Specs

Short name	Classes/ParentIsNotStatic
Rulesets	All, Analyze, Changed Behavior, Class Review
Exakat since	2.4.3
PHP Version	All
Severity	Major
Time To Fix	Quick (30 mins)
Precision	Very high
Available in	Entreprise Edition, Exakat Cloud