Methods with Predefined Semantics

If a class contains a definition for a method having one of the following names, that method must have the prescribed visibility, signature, and semantics:

Method Name	Description
__construct	A constructor
__dispose	Performs object-cleanup
__disposeAsync	Performs object-cleanup
__toString	Returns a string representation of the instance on which it is called

Method __construct

See Constructors.

Method __dispose

This public instance method is required if the class implements the interface IDisposable; the method is intended to perform object cleanup. The method's signature is, as follows:

class Example implements IDisposable {
  public function __dispose(): void {}
}

This method is called implicitly by the runtime when the instance goes out of scope, provided the attributes <<__ReturnDisposable>> and <<__AcceptDisposable>> are not present.

See object disposal for an example of its use and a discussion of these attributes.

Method __disposeAsync

This public instance method is required if the class implements the interface IAsyncDisposable; the method is intended to perform object cleanup. The method's signature is as follows:

public async function __disposeAsync(): Awaitable<void>;

This method is called implicitly by the runtime when the instance goes out of scope, provided the attributes <<__ReturnDisposable>> and <<__AcceptDisposable>> are not present.

See object disposal for a discussion of disposal and these attributes.