I haven't used abstract classes much in practice, though I understand what they are : a way to dictate to subclasses which methods must be implemented.
I just put a Kohana project through Doxygen and can see the class hierarchy in its entirety. I see that, at the top of the chain we have a factory:
abstract class Kohana_Model {
public static function factory($name){
// Add the model prefix
$class = 'Model_'.$name;
return new $class;
}
}
Inherited directly below that, we have an empty abstract class:
abstract class Model extends Kohana_Model {}
... And below that, there are three inherited classes: Kohana_Model_Database, Kohana_ORM, and Model_Foobar.
Would someone please explain the programming reasoning for this - what is the purpose of having an empty abstract class this high up in the chain? (and, at all?)
Why not have Kohana_Model_Database, Kohana_ORM, and Model_Foobar inherit directly from Kohana_Model, when there is (apparently?) no other branching or inheritance going on between Model and Kohana_Model?
Answers you're seeking for are Cascading File System and Transparent Extensions.
It allows you to create a model by calling
class News_Model extends Model
by default, and that will automatically then extend Kohana_Model and things will be hunky dory.
It also lets you extend Kohana_Model by creating your own Model file
class Model extends Kohana_Model
which overrides the abstract Model class, and allows you to add custom functionality. Then, when you upgrade your Kohana version to (say) 3.4, your extended Model doesn't get overwritten by the new Kohana files.