How to call parent constructor in child class in PHP?

In PHP object-oriented programming, there are two scenarios when calling parent constructors in child classes, depending on whether the child class defines its own constructor.

Case 1: Child Class Has Its Own Constructor

When a child class defines its own constructor, the parent constructor is not automatically called. You must explicitly call parent::__construct() within the child constructor to execute the parent's initialization code ?

<?php
class grandpa{
    public function __construct(){
        echo "I am in Tutorials Point"."<br>";
    }
}

class papa extends grandpa{
    public function __construct(){
        parent::__construct();
        echo "I am not in Tutorials Point";
    }
}

$obj = new papa();
?>

I am in Tutorials Point
I am not in Tutorials Point

Explanation

In the above example, parent::__construct() explicitly calls the parent class constructor before executing the child's own constructor logic.

Case 2: Child Class Without Constructor

If the child class does not define a constructor, it automatically inherits the parent's constructor, just like any other non-private method ?

<?php
class grandpa{
    public function __construct(){
        echo "I am in Tutorials point";
    }
}

class papa extends grandpa{
    // No constructor defined
}

$obj = new papa();
?>

I am in Tutorials point

Explanation

Here the parent constructor is called automatically because the child class doesn't override it with its own constructor method.

Conclusion

Use parent::__construct() when your child class has its own constructor but still needs parent initialization. Without a child constructor, the parent constructor runs automatically through inheritance.