Static class initializer in PHP

Question

I have an helper class with some static functions. All the functions in the class require a ‘heavy’ initialization function to run once (as if it were a constructor).

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Answer 1

// file Foo.php
class Foo
{
  static function init() { /* ... */ }
}

Foo::init();

This way, the initialization happens when the class file is included. You can make sure this only happens when necessary (and only once) by using autoloading.