Import¶
Imports are elements of a different namespaces, brought into the current one. They rely on the use expression, usually at the beginning of the file.
Once a class, interface, trait, enum, function or constant has been imported, it is available in the current namespace. It may also use another name, also called alias.
Import is sometimes mistaken with inclusion, which bring in code.
<?php
namespace A;
// import classes
use B\C;
use D\E as F;
// import function
use function A\foo;
// import constants
use const A\D;
// call an imported function with an imported constant
foo(D);
?>
See also Avoiding Imports and Aliases in PHP and 6 good practices for ‘use’ in PHP.
Related : Relative Name, Absolute Name, Global Space, Namespaced Name
