The __destruct Method

The __destruct function is a magic method in PHP that is automatically called when an object is removed from memory. This happens either when the script finishes execution or when the object is explicitly destroyed. The method is useful for freeing resources (for example, closing file descriptors or database connections).

Syntax

class MyClass {
	public function __destruct() {
		// destructor code
	}
}

Example

A simple example of a class with a destructor that outputs a message when the object is destroyed:

<?php
class Test {
	public function __destruct() {
		echo 'Object destroyed';
	}
}

$obj = new Test();
unset($obj); // Will call the destructor
?>

Execution result:

'Object destroyed'

Example

An example with resource freeing (closing a file):

<?php
class FileHandler {
	private $file;

	public function __construct($filename) {
		$this->file = fopen($filename, 'r');
	}

	public function __destruct() {
		if ($this->file) {
			fclose($this->file);
			echo 'File closed';
		}
	}
}

$handler = new FileHandler('example.txt');
// Working with the file...
unset($handler); // Will close the file automatically
?>

Execution result:

'File closed'

The __destruct Method

Syntax

Example

Example

See Also