[flint0131]

I'm currently creating a system and I'm not sure which of these is faster and more efficient?
I have this function called Core that contains a lot of functions.

1.) Use Core's getters to fetch a data in my database
Example : ( i have getUsername in my Core function )

$Core->getUsername(); // to get the username
$Core->getUserid(); // to get the userid

Each getters runs a query, ( e.g. SELECT something FROM somewhere )
I'm currently using this, but I think, for some reasons which I'm not sure of, that this style can somehow slows my scripts. ( Not sure, maybe because of the many queries )

2.) Use Procedural style? I mean, not really ( IDK, not familiar with teh terminologies ). I'll create a function that returns an array of the fetched results ( Gets all the info needed and store it in an array, like : username, userid, gender, etc.. )
Example :

$theArray = $Code->getAllInABunch();
// code to print $theArray

3.) If you have any suggestions, kindly post here. I'm a starter and in need of help. I'm like 40% in finishing this system. :> Thanks!

[Dormilich]

flint0131, on 25 January 2011 - 03:49 PM, said:

Each getters runs a query, ( e.g. SELECT something FROM somewhere )
I'm currently using this, but I think, for some reasons which I'm not sure of, that this style can somehow slows my scripts. ( Not sure, maybe because of the many queries )

if you don’t have an awfully complex SQL query, I don’t see a reason for that.

if you do quite a lot of DB queries (of the same sort), you can use Prepared Statements (save an SQL template on DB and only transmit data). if the returned data are always the same, you may consider saving them in a session.

[Xtron]

Setters and getters arent really good for performance anyway. If it's just something like a username you could have a class set variable, or instead of having a function for each SQL query you could just have one function that runs custom queries, and if the same query is being run for the same username, make sure to only run it once and save the username so you don't have to run it again.

[baavgai]

Don't use an class because you can, but because you should. Your $Core just looks like a global wrapper; it's probably not doing anything for you.

User is a good example of where to use a class, e.g.:

$user = getUser(); // $Core->getUser(); ?
$user->getName();
$user->getId();

The getters shouldn't always query the database. The idea of a class is to store state. However, in web pages, the rules are a little different. State for the page begins and ends with the request. If you need more that that, then it's time to go with sessions. Any web app that want to track logged in users probably wants to use sessions.

My getUser might looke like:

function setUser($user) { 
	$_SESSION['user'] = $user;
	return $user;
}

function login($username, $password) { 
	return setUser(getUserFromDb($username, $password));
}


function getUser() {
	if (!isset($_SESSION['user']) ) {
		return setUser(getGuestUser());
	} else {
		return $_SESSION['user'];
	}
}

[flint0131]

Thanks for the replies, I'm using PDO to connect to my database so prepared statements are present.
I'm confused on baavgai's code :

$user = getUser(); // $Core->getUser(); ?
$user->getName();
$user->getId();

function getUser has another function under it? like :

function getUser() {
   function getName() {}
   function getId() { }
}

My bad : Core's a class not a function

[baavgai]

More like:

class User {
	const GUEST_NAME = 'guest';
	const GUEST_ID = 0;
	private $id, $username;
	
	public function __construct($id, $username) {
		$this->id= $id;
		$this->username = $username;
	}
	
	public function getName() { return $this->username; }
	
	public function getId() { return $this->id; }
	
	// probably much more stuff in here
}
	
function getUserFromDb($username, $password) {
	$id = getIdFromDb($username, $password);
	if ($id==0) { 
		return new User(User::GUEST_ID,User::GUEST_NAME); 
	} else {
		return new User($id, $username); 
	}
}

You're asking about objects. I assumed it would be clear if I used them. Any of the code offered is confusing, start here: http://www.php.net/m.../oop5.intro.php