__callStatic magic method

The __callStatic() magic method works as the same way as __call() magic method with the only difference is it works only with static methods.

Please note that __callStatic() magic method is a static function and should be called statically.

Simple Example

class DevPeel
{
	public static function __callStatic($name,$arguments){
		var_dump($name,$arguments);
	}
}

DevPeel::someMethod('dev',100);

You can notice here, it’s same as __call() magic method but used statically. It’ll output the following:

string(10) "someMethod"
array(2) {
  [0]=>
  string(3) "dev"
  [1]=>
  int(100)
}

Another Example (Facade Technique)

Again taking inspiration from Laravel, we’ve an Auth facade and we require to login attempt using our username & password. We can achieve this using the following simple technique:

class Auth
{
	public static function attempt($username,$password){
		var_dump('attempt');
	}
}

Auth::attempt('usamamuener','secret');

Now let’s see a more detailed approach of doing the same using __callStatic() magic method.

class AuthService
{
	public function attempt($username,$password){
		var_dump('attempt',$username,$password);
	}
}

class Auth
{
	public static function service(){
		return new AuthService();
	}

	public static function __callStatic($name,$arguments){
		return self::service()->{$name}(...$arguments);
	}
}

Auth::attempt('usamamuneer','secret');

Let’s do some more refactoring.

class AuthService
{
	public function attempt($username,$password){
		var_dump('attempt',$username,$password);
	}
}

abstract class Facade
{
	public static function __callStatic($name,$arguments){
		return static::service()->{$name}(...$arguments);
	}
}

class Auth extends Facade
{
	public static function service(){
		return new AuthService();
	}
}

Auth::attempt('usamamuneer','secret');

Now every time we add a new Facade, we’ll extend the Facade class and everything will works exactly the same.