Class And Constant Confusion

<?php

  const stdClass = 1;

  new stdClass;

?>

Class names and global constant names are two distinct name spaces. It is possible to use the name of a class as a constant.

It is also possible to instantiate a class with a constant notation: that is, by omitting the parenthesis in the new call, when no arguments are needed.

This allows for very confusing lines like these ones.

See Also

• Class Constants (PHP manual)

• class and constants [Try me]

PHP Features

• class

• constant

• name

Last updated: 14 July 2026