Retrieving Class Name from Static Call in Extended PHP Class

In the world of PHP, it's often necessary to determine the classname from a static function call, especially when working with extended classes. Consider the following scenario:

class Action {
    function n() {/* some implementation */}
}

class MyAction extends Action {/* further implementation */}

In this situation, calling MyAction::n(); should return "MyAction" as the classname. However, the __CLASS__ variable only returns the parent class name ("Action").

Late Static Bindings (PHP 5.3 ):

PHP 5.3 introduced late static bindings, which enable resolving the target class at runtime. This feature makes it possible to determine the called class using the get_called_class() function:

class Action {
    public static function n() {
        return get_called_class();
    }
}

class MyAction extends Action {

}

echo MyAction::n(); // Output: MyAction

Alternative Approach (Pre-PHP 5.3):

Prior to PHP 5.3, an alternative solution relies on using a non-static method and the get_class() function:

class Action {
    public function n(){
        return get_class($this);
    }
}

class MyAction extends Action {

}

$foo = new MyAction;

echo $foo->n(); // Output: MyAction

Remember, this approach only works for non-static methods, as the get_class() function takes an instance of the class as an argument.