Cast Private To Array

By Paul Shryock

<?php

class MyClass {
    private $hi = 'Hi';
    protected $hello = 'Hello';
    public $goodday = 'Goodday';
}

$thing = new MyClass();
print json_encode($thing); // {"goodday":"Goodday"}

print json_encode((array) $thing); 
// {" MyClass hi":"Hi"," * hello":"Hello","goodday":"Goodday"}

Today I learned that PHP exposes private properties when an object is cast to an array. 🤦.

See Also

• Original Toot
• Casting private properties [Try me]

PHP Features

• cast
• visibility
• private
• debug

Last updated: 10 September 2026