Class constructor

[Guest askjames01]

ok, the manual said that a Class constructor purpose is this;

[!--quoteo--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--]To initialize variables with non-constant values, you need an initialization function which is called automatically when an object is being constructed from the class. Such a function is called a constructor (see below). [/quote]

example:
[code]class Cart {
   var $todays_date;
   var $name;
   var $owner;
   var $items = array("VCR", "TV");

   function Cart() {
       $this->todays_date = date("Y-m-d");
       $this->name = $GLOBALS['firstname'];
       /* etc. . . */
   }
}[/code]

so cart() is the constructor right?
so meaning constructor is "To initialize variables with non-constant values".

so my main question is (is this really the only purpose of constructor?)
or there is another purpose?

[Guest askjames01]

ok, thanks for no replies.
i re-read the manual and
i found only this;

[!--quoteo--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--]Constructors are functions in a class that are automatically called when you create a new instance of a class with new. A function becomes a constructor, when it has the same name as the class. If a class has no constructor, the constructor of the base class is being called, if it exists. [/quote]

so i think there is no other purpose.

[wildteen88]

All wat the constructor does is just setups the variables or calls other internal methods (functions) inside the class. There are two ways to define a constructor either create a function as the same name as the class name (the php4 way) or use the __construct function (PHP5 only).