Returning a value in constructor function of a class

Question

So far I have a PHP class with the constructor

public function __construct ($identifier = NULL)
{
 // Return me.
if ( $identifier != NULL )
{
           


        

Answer 1

Constructors don't get return values; they serve entirely to instantiate the class.

Without restructuring what you are already doing, you may consider using an exception here.

public function __construct ($identifier = NULL)
{
  $this->emailAddress = $identifier;
  $this->loadUser();
}

private function loadUser ()
{
    // try to load the user
    if (/* not able to load user */) {
        throw new Exception('Unable to load user using identifier: ' . $this->identifier);
    }
}

Now, you can create a new user in this fashion.

try {
    $user = new User('user@example.com');
} catch (Exception $e) {
    // unable to create the user using that id, handle the exception
}