Protected Properties in OOP in PHP

PHP also supports protected properties. They are also declared using the protected modifier. Such properties are inherited and accessible in child classes.

Let's create a parent class with a protected property containing age:

<?php
	class User {
		protected $age;
		
		public function setAge($age) {
			$this->age = $age;
		}
		public function getAge() {
			return $this->age;
		}
	}
?>

In the child class, let's create a method that increments the age by one:

<?php
	class Student extends User {
		public function incAge() {
			$this->age++;
		}
	}
?>

Rewrite the following code using a protected property:

<?php
	class User {
		private $name;
		
		public function setName($name) {
			$this->name = $name;
		}
		public function getName() {
			return $this->name;
		}
	}
	
	class Employee extends User {
		public function setName($name) {
			if (strlen($name) > 0) {
				$this->name = $name;
			}
		}
	}
?>