class_alias()

class_alias() — Creates an alias for a class.

Built-in function of PHP 8.5. The manual lists it as available in PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PHP 7, PHP 8. This page is the reference card: signature, parameters and return value, plus the changelog and the example the manual provides.

What it does

Creates an alias named alias based on the user defined class class. The aliased class is exactly the same as the original class.

Signature

class_alias(string $class, string $alias, bool $autoload = true): bool

Parameters

Parameter	Type	What it takes
$class	string	The original class.
$alias	string	The alias name for the class.
$autoload	bool	Whether to autoload if the original class is not found.

Return value

Returns true on success or false on failure.

Example

A runnable snippet:

class Foo { } class_alias('Foo', 'Bar'); $a = new Foo; $b = new Bar; // the objects are the same var_dump($a == $b, $a === $b); var_dump($a instanceof $b); // the classes are the same var_dump($a instanceof Foo); var_dump($a instanceof Bar); var_dump($b instanceof Foo); var_dump($b instanceof Bar);

Output:

bool(true) bool(false) bool(true) bool(true) bool(true) bool(true) bool(true)

Changelog

Version	Change
8.3.0	class_alias() now supports creating an alias of an internal class.