PHP "with" keyword - what does "with" do?

Question

Can someone please explain what PHP "with" does?

Example begins:

Say I have a class:

\App\fa_batch

What is the difference between this statement:

$w = (with (new \App\fa_batch))
       // uses 'with'
       // returns App\fa_batch

and this statement?

$n = (new \App\fa_batch)
       // does not use 'with'
       // also returns App\fa_batch

Context / Background Info:

I'm having trouble finding documentation for with, maybe because the PHP.net, stack overflow and google search engines considers php "with" keyword such a common search phrase.

If context helps, I came across this usage of the word with from this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/33222754/5722034

*"I'm having trouble finding documentation for `with`."* -- take it as a hint and try to guess. — axiac, Jun 19 '17 at 17:05
@axiac Logically it would either mean I have entered in insufficient search phrase, or no documentation exists. It also means I want to throw my computer out the window, but that's rather less logical. — Jase Leow, Jun 19 '17 at 17:09
@JaseLeow Indeed, `with` is a common English word and the search engines usually ignore it or assign it a low value. However, searching on http://php.net should bring you at some point to the language definition page where all the keywords are listed. — axiac, Jun 19 '17 at 17:23

zzzzBov · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-19T17:18:23.523

4

with is not a keyword, it's a laravel function. The extra space between with and ( is a red herring.

The 5.2 docs include it in miscellaneous helpers. The source is available on github as well

edited Jun 19 '17 at 17:18

answered Jun 19 '17 at 17:06

zzzzBov

174,988
54
320
367

its not asking for Laravel framework " With " Funtion .. its Talking about `$w = (with (new \App\fa_batch))` differents b/w `$n = (new \App\fa_batch) – RïshïKêsh Kümar Jun 19 '17 at 17:12
1

@RïshïKêshKümar, what you've just described there **is** the `with()` function call in the laravel framework. – zzzzBov Jun 19 '17 at 17:16
Your related question seems to deal with the Eloquent eager loading, not the helper function. – Devon Bessemer Jun 19 '17 at 17:17
i pasted some source below if people are interested. thanks. – Jase Leow Jun 19 '17 at 17:20
@devon yes, I was researching about Eloquent, but I was thrown by the extra whitespace between the `with` and `(` – Jase Leow Jun 19 '17 at 17:23
@JaseLeow that comment was directed towards the original answer (before it was edited). This `with` helper is not related to Eloquent, only Laravel. – Devon Bessemer Jun 19 '17 at 19:13

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 19 '17 at 17:14

https://laravel.com/docs/5.2/helpers#miscellaneous

with() is a helper function that just returns the object.

A normal use case I've seen is when you're cloning an object, it allows you to chain onto that clone:

$object = new Object();
with(clone $object)->doSomethingWithoutAffectingTheOriginal();

In the use case you've provided, there is no difference. with() is completely redundant if you've wrapped the creation of the instance in parentheses.

thank you for explaining the use case here. helpful +1 – Jase Leow Jun 19 '17 at 17:32 — Jase Leow, Jun 19 '17 at 17:32

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 19 '17 at 17:16

Thanks to the answers by various posters, I've realised it is a function in Laravel. Here is the Laravel source: Taken from vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Support/helpers.php

if (! function_exists('with')) {
    /**
     * Return the given object. Useful for chaining.
     *
     * @param  mixed  $object
     * @return mixed
     */
    function with($object)
    {
        return $object;
    }
}

From that terse comment there, I understand it is used for chaining, e.g. queries together. (I use the term 'understand' loosely.)

SirPilan · Answer 4 · 2023-07-05T15:01:10.773

tldr

The with function has been used to chain methods, but is no longer required. Since php 5.4 you can simply write (new MyObject)->myMethod() - this was not possible prior to v5.4:

Example: https://3v4l.org/57dc0#v5.3.29

PHP "with" keyword - what does "with" do?

5 Answers5

tldr

More detailed answer