What are magic methods in PHP?

Magic methods are special methods in PHP classes. Their names start with a double underscore (__). PHP calls them automatically in some situations, you do not call them yourself.

Method	When PHP calls it
__construct()	When an object is created
__destruct()	When an object is destroyed
__get($name)	When reading a property that is not accessible or does not exist
__set($name, $value)	When writing to a property that is not accessible or does not exist
__call($name, $args)	When calling a method that does not exist
__toString()	When an object is used as a string, for example with echo
__invoke()	When an object is called like a function

<?php
class User {
    private $data = ["name" => "Robin"];

    public function __get($key) {
        return $this->data[$key] ?? "Not found";
    }

    public function __toString() {
        return "User: " . $this->data["name"];
    }
}

$u = new User();
echo $u->name . "<br>";
echo $u->city . "<br>";
echo $u;
?>

Output:

Do not create your own methods with a double underscore name, because PHP keeps these names for itself.

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