Unnecessary Default Constructor

ID

php.unnecessary_default_constructor

Severity

info

Remediation Complexity

trivial

Remediation Risk

low

Remediation Effort

low

Resource

Code Smell

Language

Php

Tags

code_smell, redundant-code

Description

Reports a public, parameterless constructor that does no work — either an empty body or a body whose only statement is an argument-less parent::__construct() call.

Rationale

PHP instantiates a class with new whether or not the class declares a constructor, so a parameterless constructor with an empty body adds a member to read and maintain without changing behaviour. A body that contains only parent::__construct() with no arguments is the same: PHP does not call the parent constructor implicitly, but a no-argument forwarding call adds nothing the reader can act on. Removing the empty constructor reduces clutter and makes a later, meaningful constructor easier to spot.

Constructors that declare parameters (including promoted properties), that are private or protected to restrict instantiation, or that run any other statement are left untouched.

<?php
class Account
{
    public function __construct()   // FLAW — empty parameterless constructor
    {
    }
}

class Repository
{
    public function __construct(private Connection $connection)  // OK — promoted property
    {
    }
}

Remediation

Delete the empty constructor. PHP will still allow new Account() to create an instance. Keep the constructor only once it declares parameters or performs initialisation.

References