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Difficulty with Dynamic Class Loading in PHP 8.1 Using Namespaces and Autoloading

👀 Views: 58 đŸ’Ŧ Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-07
php autoloading namespaces PHP

I'm currently working with an scenario with dynamically loading classes using namespaces in PHP 8.1. I'm trying to implement a simple plugin system where plugins can be loaded based on user input, but I'm running into a 'Class not found' behavior when attempting to instantiate a class that should be autoloaded. Here's the code I'm working with: ```php // autoload.php spl_autoload_register(function ($class) { $file = __DIR__ . '/' . str_replace('\\', '/', $class) . '.php'; if (file_exists($file)) { require $file; } }); ``` And I have a plugin class defined as follows: ```php // src/Plugins/MyPlugin.php namespace Plugins; class MyPlugin { public function run() { return 'MyPlugin is running!'; } } ``` When I try to load this class dynamically like so: ```php // index.php require 'autoload.php'; $pluginName = 'Plugins\MyPlugin'; if (class_exists($pluginName)) { $plugin = new $pluginName(); echo $plugin->run(); } else { echo 'Class not found: ' . $pluginName; } ``` I'm getting the behavior message: `Class not found: Plugins\MyPlugin`. I've double-checked that the file path and namespace are correct, and that the autoload function is registered before I attempt to instantiate the class. I also confirmed that the namespaces match and that there are no typos. I've tried manually requiring the class file directly in `index.php`, which works fine, but I want to stick with the autoloading approach for better maintainability. Is there something I might be missing in my setup, or a different way I should be structuring my autoload function? Any guidance would be appreciated!