What is the difference between self and $this?

In PHP OOP, self and $this are both used inside a class, but they work in very different ways:

1. $this

• Refers to the current object instance of the class.
• Can only be used inside non-static methods.
• Used to access instance properties and instance methods.

Example:

class Test {
    public $name = "Himanshu";

    public function showName() {
        echo $this->name; // Refers to the object's $name
    }
}

$obj = new Test();
$obj->showName(); // Output: Himanshu

Here, $this means “the current object $obj“.

2. self

• Refers to the current class itself, not an object.
• Can be used in static and non-static methods.
• Used to access static properties and static methods.
• Does not work with object context — it’s bound to the class where it is written.

Example:

class Test {
    public static $name = "PHP";

    public static function showName() {
        echo self::$name; // Refers to the class's static property
    }
}

Test::showName(); // Output: PHP

Here, self means “this class (Test)”.

Main Differences Table

💡 Quick way to remember:

• $this → “this object”
• self → “this class”