Design Pattern: Visitor Pattern in PHP

Visitor pattern moves the calculation/operation to a separate class. This way, we can define a new operation without changing the related classes.

Check Details of Visitor Pattern

This article demonstrates Visitor pattern implementations in PHP. Check the following examples.

Implementation

Check the following steps for Visitor pattern implementation in PHP-

Create an interface for the element/item classes. Declare a method that accepts a visitor object.
Create element/item classes and implement the item interface. There can be other properties and methods as per the requirement of that class.
Create visitor interface, and declare methods for adding/processing elements.

Create visitor class and implement the interface. Define methods declared in the interface. Use properties to handle the processing of the content of the elements.

Here is a simple Visitor pattern implementation-

<?php
// Visitor pattern implementation in PHP

interface ElementInterface {
    function visit(VisitorInterface $visitor): void;
}

class Element1 implements ElementInterface {
    public function __construct(private string $elementContent) {

    }

    public function getContent(): string{
        return $this->elementContent;
    }

    public function visit(VisitorInterface $visitor): void {
        $visitor->addContent($this);
    }
}

class Element2 implements ElementInterface {
    public function __construct(private string $elementContent, private bool $addMergin = false) {

    }

    public function getContent(): string{
        return $this->elementContent;
    }

    public function getMargin(): bool{
        return $this->addMergin;
    }

    public function visit(VisitorInterface $visitor): void {
        $visitor->addContentWithMargin($this);
    }
}


interface VisitorInterface {
    function addContent(Element1 $element): void;
    function addContentWithMargin(Element2 $element): void;
}

class Visitor implements VisitorInterface {
    public string $output = '';

    public function addContent(Element1 $element1): void {
        $this->output .= $element1->getContent();
    }

    public function addContentWithMargin(Element2 $element2): void {
        if ($element2->getMargin()) {
            $this->output .= '[margin]' . $element2->getContent() . '[/margin]';
        } else {
            $this->output .= $element2->getContent();
        }
    }    
}


// list of elements
$elements = [
    new Element1("Element1: first element"),
    new Element2("Element2: second element without margin"),
    new Element2("Element2: third element with margin", true),
    new Element1("Element1: last element"),
];

$visitior = new Visitor();

foreach ($elements as $element) {
    $element->visit($visitior);
}

echo $visitior->output;

Output will be as below-

Element1: first element
Element2: second element without margin
[margin]Element2: third element with margin[/margin]
Element1: last element

Examples

Check the following example of Visitor pattern-

Example #1: Hosting Cost Calculator

In this example we are calculating costing of a hosting provider. There are services like – compute, database, serverless, storage, etc. provided by the hosting.

We want to use the total cost of hosting based on the service used, by implementing Visitor pattern.

Service Interface

Create file “Service.php”.
Define interface “Service”.

Declare method “accept” which accepts a visitor object.

<?php
// Service.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCost;

interface Service {
    public function accept(HostingCalculatorVisitor $hostingCalculatorVisitor): float;
}

Compute Service Class

Create file “ComputeService.php”.

Define class “ComputeService”.
Implement the “Service” interface.
Define properties “PRICE” and “$quantity”.

In the constructor accept and set “$quantity”.
Define getter methods for price and quantity.
Define “accept” method as part of the interface implementation. Call the processing method from the visitor object, and pass the current object($this).

<?php
// ComputeService.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCost;

class ComputeService implements Service {
    private const PRICE = 10.50;
    private int $quantity;

    public function __construct(int $quantity) {
        $this->quantity = $quantity;
    }

    public function getPrice(): float {
        return self::PRICE;
    }

    public function getQuantity(): int {
        return $this->quantity;
    }

    public function accept(HostingCalculatorVisitor $hostingCalculatorVisitor): float {
        return $hostingCalculatorVisitor->visitComputeService($this);
    }
}

Database Service Class

Create file “DatabaseService.php”.
Define class “DatabaseService” and implement the “Service” interface.

Define properties and methods as per the class requirement.

<?php
// DatabaseService.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCost;

class DatabaseService implements Service {
    private const PRICE = 100.00;
    private const BACKUP_PRICE = 30.00;
    private int $quantity;
    private bool $backupEnabled;

    public function __construct(int $quantity, bool $backupEnabled = false) {
        $this->quantity = $quantity;
        $this->backupEnabled = $backupEnabled;
    }

    public function getPrice(): float {
        return self::PRICE;
    }

    public function getQuantity(): int {
        return $this->quantity;
    }

    public function getBackupPrice(): float {
        return self::BACKUP_PRICE;
    }

    public function isBackupEnabled(): bool {
        return $this->backupEnabled;
    }

    public function accept(HostingCalculatorVisitor $hostingCalculatorVisitor): float {
        return $hostingCalculatorVisitor->visitDatabaseService($this);
    }
}

File Storage Service Class

Create file “FileStorageService.php”.

Define class “FileStorageService” and implement the “Service” interface.
Define properties and methods as per the class requirement.

<?php
// FileStorageService.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCost;


class FileStorageService implements Service {
    private const PRICE_PER_GB = 1.70;
    private int $quantity;

    public function __construct(int $quantity) {
        $this->quantity = $quantity;
    }

    public function getPricePerGB(): float {
        return self::PRICE_PER_GB;
    }

    public function getQuantity(): int {
        return $this->quantity;
    }

    public function accept(HostingCalculatorVisitor $hostingCalculatorVisitor): float {
        return $hostingCalculatorVisitor->visitFileStorageService($this);
    }
}

Serverless Service Class

Create file “ServerlessService.php”.
Define class “ServerlessService” and implement the “Service” interface.
Define properties and methods as per the class requirement.

<?php
// ServerlessService.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCost;

class ServerlessService implements Service {
    private const HOURLY_PRICE = 0.32;
    private int $totalHours;

    public function __construct(int $totalHours) {
        $this->totalHours = $totalHours;
    }

    public function getHourlyPrice(): float {
        return self::HOURLY_PRICE;
    }

    public function getTotalHours(): int {
        return $this->totalHours;
    }

    public function accept(HostingCalculatorVisitor $hostingCalculatorVisitor): float {
        return $hostingCalculatorVisitor->visitServerlessService($this);
    }
}

Container Service Class

Create file “ContainerService.php”.
Define class “ContainerService” and implement the “Service” interface.

Define properties and methods as per the class requirement.

<?php
// ContainerService.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCost;

class ContainerService implements Service {
    private const PRICE = 5.60;
    private int $quantity;

    public function __construct(int $quantity) {
        $this->quantity = $quantity;
    }

    public function getPrice(): float {
        return self::PRICE;
    }

    public function getQuantity(): int {
        return $this->quantity;
    }

    public function accept(HostingCalculatorVisitor $hostingCalculatorVisitor): float {
        return $hostingCalculatorVisitor->visitContainerService($this);
    }
}

Visitor Interface

Create file “HostingCalculatorVisitor.php”.

Define interface “HostingCalculatorVisitor”.
Declare methods for calculation of different services, like – “visitComputService”, “visitDatabaseService”, “visitFileStorageService” etc. These methods will be used to perform the main calculation for each service.

<?php
// HostingCalculatorVisitor.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCost;

interface HostingCalculatorVisitor {
    public function visitComputeService(ComputeService $computeService): float;
    public function visitDatabaseService(DatabaseService $databaseService): float;
    public function visitFileStorageService(FileStorageService $fileStorageService): float;
    public function visitServerlessService(ServerlessService $serverlessService): float;
    public function visitContainerService(ContainerService $containerService): float;
}

Visitor Interface Implementation

Create file “HostingCalculatorVisitorImpl.php”.
Define class “HostingCalculatorVisitorImpl”.
Implement the visitor interface “HostingCalculatorVisitor” for the class.

In the method implementations calculate the prices for relevant services.

<?php
// HostingCalculatorVisitorImpml.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCost;

class HostingCalculatorVisitorImpl implements HostingCalculatorVisitor {
    public function visitComputeService(ComputeService $computeService): float {
        return $computeService->getPrice() * $computeService->getQuantity();
    }

    public function visitDatabaseService(DatabaseService $databaseService): float {
        $serviceCost = $databaseService->getPrice() * $databaseService->getQuantity();
        $backupCost = 0;

        if ($databaseService->isBackupEnabled()) {
            $backupCost = $databaseService->getBackupPrice() * $databaseService->getQuantity();
        }

        return $serviceCost + $backupCost;
    }

    public function visitFileStorageService(FileStorageService $fileStorageService): float {
        return $fileStorageService->getPricePerGB() * $fileStorageService->getQuantity();
    }

    public function visitServerlessService(ServerlessService $serverlessService): float {
        return $serverlessService->getHourlyPrice() * $serverlessService->getTotalHours();
    }

    public function visitContainerService(ContainerService $containerService): float {
        return $containerService->getPrice() * $containerService->getQuantity();
    }
}

Demo

In the client, define which services we want to use, and add a service object to your list of services. Then call the “accept” method to obtain the calculated price.

<?php
// demo.php

require __DIR__ . '/../../vendor/autoload.php';

use BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCostComputeService;
use BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCostContainerService;
use BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCostDatabaseService;
use BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCostFileStorageService;
use BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCostHostingCalculatorVisitorImpl;
use BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorHostingCostServerlessService;

// Utility function calculating the hosting cost
// This is not required for the Visitor pattern implementation
// This uses the visitor pattern implementation
function calculateHostingCost(array $services): float {
    $hostingCalculatorVisitorImpl = new HostingCalculatorVisitorImpl();

    $totalCost = 0;

    foreach ($services as $service) {
        $totalCost += $service->accept($hostingCalculatorVisitorImpl);
    }

    return $totalCost;
}


// Demo
$usedServices = [
    new ComputeService(3),
    new DatabaseService(3, true),
    new FileStorageService(120),
    new ServerlessService(720),
    new ContainerService(2),
];

$totalCost = calculateHostingCost($usedServices);

echo "Total cost of hosting is: " . $totalCost . "n";

Output

Output of the total price of hosting will be as below-

Total cost of hosting is: 867.1

Example #1: UI Elements

In this example, we are considering a system for printing UI Elements.

UI Element Interface

Create file “UiElement.php”.
Define interface “UiElement”.

Declare method “appendElement” which accepts a visitor object.

<?php
// UiElement.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElement;

interface UIElement {
    public function appendElement(Visitor $visitor): void;
}

Text Element Class

Create file “TextElement.php”.

Define class “TextElement “.
Implement “UIElement” interface for the class. In the “appendElement” method implementation call the “appendContent” from the visitor object, and pass the current object($this).

<?php
// TextElement.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElement;

class TextElement implements UIElement {
    private string $text;

    public function __construct(string $text) {
        $this->text = $text;
    }

    public function getText(): string {
        return $this->text;
    }

    public function appendElement(Visitor $visitor): void {
        $visitor->appendContent($this);
    }
}

Wrap Element Class

Create file “WrapElement.php”.
Define class “WrapElement” and implement interface “UIElement” for the class.

<?php
// WrapElement.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElement;

class WrapElement implements UIElement {
    private string $text;
    private string $wrapper;

    public function __construct(string $text, string $wrapper) {
        $this->text = $text;
        $this->wrapper = $wrapper;
    }

    public function getText(): string {
        return $this->text;
    }

    public function getWrapper(): string {
        return $this->wrapper;
    }

    public function appendElement(Visitor $visitor): void {
        $visitor->appendContentWithWrapper($this);
    }
}

Head Element Class

Create file “HeadElement.php”.
Define class “HeadElement” and implement interface “UIElement” for the class.

<?php
// HeadElement.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElement;

class HeadElement implements UIElement {
    private string $text;
    private string $wrapper = 'h1';

    public function __construct(string $text) {
        $this->text = $text;
    }

    public function getText(): string {
        return $this->text;
    }

    public function getWrapper(): string {
        return $this->wrapper;
    }

    public function appendElement(Visitor $visitor): void {
        $visitor->appendContentWithWrapper($this);
    }
}

List Element Class

Create file “ListElement.php”.
Define class “ListElement” and implement interface “UIElement” for the class.

<?php
// ListElement.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElement;

class ListElement implements UIElement {
    private array $lines;

    public function __construct(array $lines) {
        $this->lines = $lines;
    }

    public function getListItems(): array {
        return $this->lines;
    }

    public function appendElement(Visitor $visitor): void {
        $visitor->appendList($this);
    }
}

Visitor Interface

Create file “Visitor.php”.
Define interface “Visitor”.
Declare methods for the content processing, like – “appendContent”, “appendContentWithWrapper”, “appendList”.

<?php
// Visitor.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElement;


interface Visitor {
    public function appendContent(TextElement $textElement): void;
    public function appendContentWithWrapper(WrapElement | HeadElement $wrapElement): void;
    public function appendList(ListElement $listElement): void;
}

Visitor Interface Implementation

Create file “ElementVisitor.php”.
Define class “ElementVisitor”.

Implement interface “Visitor”. In the method implementation write relevant code for content processing/structuring.

<?php
// ElementVisitor.php

namespace BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElement;

class ElementVisitor implements Visitor {
    public string $output = '';

    public function appendContent(TextElement $textElement): void {
        $this->output .= $textElement->getText();
    }

    public function appendContentWithWrapper(WrapElement | HeadElement $wrapElement): void {
        $this->output .= "[" . $wrapElement->getWrapper() . "] " . $wrapElement->getText() . " [/" . $wrapElement->getWrapper() . "]";
    }

    public function appendList(ListElement $listElement): void {
        $this->output .= '[ul]';

        foreach ($listElement->getListItems() as $listItem) {
            $this->output .= "[li] $listItem [/li]";
        }

        $this->output .= '[/ul]';
    }
}

Demo

The client can decide to use a bunch of elements, and we need to generate an object of those elements. Then we can call the “appendElement” method from those objects to to generate those UI elements

<?php
// demo.php

require __DIR__ . '/../../vendor/autoload.php';

use BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElementElementVisitor;
use BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElementHeadElement;
use BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElementListElement;
use BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElementTextElement;
use BigBoxCodeDesignPatternVisitorUiElementWrapElement;

$uiElements = [
    new HeadElement('My Heading'),
    new TextElement('First line of text'),
    new ListElement(['abc', 'def', 'ghi', 'jkl']),
    new WrapElement('Content wrapped with div', 'div'),
    new TextElement('Last line of text'),
];


$visitor = new ElementVisitor();

foreach ($uiElements as $element) {
    $element->appendElement($visitor);
}

echo $visitor->output;

Output

Following output will be generated after processing those UI elements-

[h1] My Heading [/h1]

First line of text

[ul]
    [li] abc [/li]
    [li] def [/li]
    [li] ghi [/li]
    [li] jkl [/li]
[/ul]

[div] Content wrapped with div [/div]

Last line of text

Source Code

Use the following link to get the source code:

Example	Source Code Link
Example #1: Hosting Cost Calculator	GitHub
Example #2: UI Element	GitHub

Other Code Implementations

Use the following links to check Visitor pattern implementation in other programming languages.