Using __call()

Overloading is a familiar term in OOP. However, not all programming languages interpret it in the same way. The PHP notion of overloading is quite different than that of other OO languages. Where traditionally overloading provides the ability to have multiple methods with the same name but different arguments, in PHP overloading means to dynamically create methods and properties.

Note

 unfortunate misuse of the term overloading adds a layer of confusion for some developers, as the more proper term for this type of functionality might have been interpreter hooks.

There are two magic methods in PHP supporting method overloading: __call() and __callStatic(). Throughout this section, we will take a closer look at the __call() method.

The __call() magic method is triggered when invoking inaccessible methods in an object context. This method accepts two parameters, as per the following synopsis:

public mixed __call(string $name, array $arguments)

However the __call() method parameters...