Source Code Fundamentals: Scope

The same name can designate different things at different places in a program. For each different thing that a name designates, that name is visible only within a part of the program called that name's scope. The following distinct scopes exist:

• Script, which means from the point of declaration/first initialization through to the end of that script, including any included scripts.
• Function, which means from the point of declaration/first initialization through to the end of that function.
• Class, which means the body of that class and any classes derived from it (defining a class).
• Interface, which means the body of that interface, any interfaces derived from it, and any classes that implement it (implementing an interface).
• Namespace, which means from the point of declaration/first initialization through to the end of that namespace.

A variable declared or first initialized inside a function has function scope.

Each function has its own function scope. An anonymous function has its own scope separate from that of any function inside which that anonymous function is defined.

The scope of a parameter is the body of the function in which the parameter is declared. For the purposes of scope, a catch-block is treated like a function body.

The scope of a class member (defining a class) declared in, or inherited by, a class type C is the body of C.

The scope of an interface member (implementing an interface) declared in, or inherited by, an interface type I is the body of I.

When a trait is used by a class or an interface, the trait's members take on the scope of a member of that class or interface.