Do data structures exist, like in C??

[Anon]

Does PHP have structures like C does, or do I have to use classes?

I thought the whole point of objects was to keep the objects data from being read from outside the object, but is it true that PHP alls object properties to be read from outside the object and just assigned to a variable, and if so, is this the way I can use data structures if they don't exist?

For my app all I need are the data structures, I don't need methods and extra "baggage" that comes with OO, that would IMO make my app a little more complicated than necessary, I just want to keep it simple 😉

[toma42]

You can use associative arrays

array['string'] = 'somehting';

As for hash arrays and other less-standard stuff, it should show up in 4.0.6 or later.

Because all variables are public in an object, there really isn't that much computing overhead with objects, but of course there is overhead with maintenance.

[jediknyt]

Just use objects; all an object in C++ is is a struct with extra properties. The overhead is negligible and using objects versus associative arrays makes your code easier to read, too.