Concept: PHP Namespaces and PSR-4 for Drupal 8, 9, 10, and 11

Drupal uses PSR-4 namespaces to autoload the correct PHP class from a file, accommodating variations in site structures. As a module developer, it's important to understand PSR-4, as it dictates the location within your module directory for most of your custom code.

In this tutorial, we'll:

• Define the PSR-4 namespace standard.
• Explore its use in Drupal.
• Learn to read a namespace and locate the corresponding PHP file.

By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to recognize a PSR-4 namespace, determine the related fully-qualified class name, and the location of the corresponding PHP file.

Goal

Identify and use PSR-4 namespaces for PHP classes inside custom Drupal modules.

Prerequisites

• None.

Understanding PSR-4 namespaces in Drupal

PHP namespaces and the PSR-4 autoloading standard allow Drupal to manage and autoload PHP classes efficiently. Namespaces serve as a method for ensuring unique names for items like classes. PSR-4, defined by PHP-FIG, specifies the naming and organization of files for autoloading.

This approach helps avoid name conflicts and enables Drupal to automatically discover and execute code provided by custom modules.

Implementing namespaces in your module

When creating a PHP class in a Drupal module, you need to define a namespace for it. Each module has a namespace corresponding to its name. For example, the namespace for a module named anytown is:

Drupal\anytown

The module's namespace maps to its src/ directory:

Subsequent parts of the namespace map directly to the file structure:

In the Carrots.php file, the namespace is at the top, and the PHP class name derives from the file name without the .php extension.

For example, modules/anytown/src/Ingredients/Carrots.php:

<?php
namespace Drupal\anytown\Ingredients;

class Carrots {

}
?>

To use the Carrots class, instantiate it with its fully qualified namespace, and Drupal will locate and include the file:

use Drupal\anytown\Ingredients\Carrots;

$carrots = new Carrots();
$carrots->eat();

Always reference a class in a Drupal module using its full namespace. For example, Drupal's Plugin API searches for code within a sub-namespace like Drupal\*\Plugins\Block\**.php, where the first * is any enabled module, and **.php is any class in the corresponding PSR-4 subdirectory.

Finding files based on namespaces

You will need to know how to read a namespace and find the associated file. The key is understanding the relationship between the namespace and the module's directory structure. For example, the namespace Drupal\anytown\Ingredients\Carrots corresponds to modules/custom/anytown/src/Ingredients/Carrots.php.

Why PSR-4?

Drupal adopted the PSR-4 standard for namespaces and autoloading to align with the broader PHP community, which uses it to efficiently organize classes. PSR-4's compatibility with Composer enhances Drupal's dependency management.

Recap

In this tutorial, we explored PHP namespaces and PSR-4 in Drupal. We looked at an example of how PSR-4 infers the location of a .php file, explaining why understanding this pattern is essential for Drupal module developers.

Further your understanding

• Try creating a new PHP class in a module. Can you define the correct namespace and file path?
• How do namespaces prevent class name conflicts in Drupal projects?

Additional resources

• PHP Namespaces in Under 5 Minutes (symfonycasts.com)
• Namespaces Overview (php.net)
• PSR-4: Autoloader (php-fig.org)
• PSR-4 Namespaces and Autoloading in Drupal (Drupal.org)