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Friday, November 30, 2012

PHP : Classes & Objects - [7.4] Destroying an Object


7.4.1 Problem

You want to eliminate an object.

7.4.2 Solution

Objects are automatically destroyed when a script terminates. To force the destruction of an object, use unset( ):
$car = new car; // buy new car
...
unset($car);    // car wreck

7.4.3 Discussion

It's not normally necessary to manually clean up objects, but if you have a large loop, unset( ) can help keep memory usage from spiraling out of control.
PHP 4 doesn't have destructors, however Zend Engine 2 supports them with the _ _destruct( ) method.