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phpphp-di

PHP-DI - Differences between Factories and Objects

PHP-DI allows some methods to define injections, including factories and objects: http://php-di.org/doc/php-definitions.html.

Factories:

TestClass::class => function () {
   return new TestClass('param');
}

The TestClass instance is created lazily, only when it is needed.

Objects:

TestClass::class => DI\object()->constructor('param')

If you use Objects, is the instance also created lazily?

If yes, what's the difference between factories and objects?

Solution

  • PHP-DI author here, it seems there is some confusion (given the question and how wrong the other answer is). I have improved the documentation, hopefully that will clear things up: ec8120ee.

    To answer your questions:

    If you use Objects, is the instance also created lazily?

    Yes, all definitions are resolved lazily, object() too.

    If yes, what's the difference between factories and objects?

    Just the syntax. In some cases it's more practical to write a closure, in some other cases you may want to avoid the boilerplate by using object().

    It's just a syntax preference honestly.