PHP scripting language provides object oriented features through the class keyword. Features like public, private and protected will be supported in the future release (they are in TODO list). In the meantime, you can use the following coding conventions to distinguish between private, public and protected variables:
class someabc {
var $_conn; // Private variable
var $_Tmyvar; // Protected variable
var $connMYCONNECTION; // Public variable
var $connToDb; // Public variable
var $myvar3; // Public variable
var $myvarTHISTEST; // Public variable
function _foofunction() {} // Private function
function _Tfoofunction() {} // Protected function
function foofunction() {} // Public function
}
The private, protected declarations provide the encapsulation and data-hiding. But you must consider the following disadvantages of encapsulation: