Autoloading Files

Every application consists of a large number of classes in many different

locations. The framework provides classes for core functionality. Your application
will have a number of libraries, models, and other entities to make it work. You
might have third-party classes that your project is using. Keeping track of where
every single file is, and hard-coding that location into your files in a series of
requires() is a massive headache and very error-prone. That�s where autoloaders
come in.

CodeIgniter provides a very flexible autoloader that can be used with very little
configuration. It can locate individual non-namespaced classes, namespaced classes
that adhere to PSR-4 autoloading directory structures, and will even attempt to
locate classes in common directories (like Controllers, Models, etc).

For performance improvement, the core CodeIgniter components have been added to the
classmap.

The autoloader works great by itself, but can also work with other autoloaders,
like Composer, or even your own custom autoloaders, if needed. Because they�re all
registered through spl_autoload_register, they work in sequence and don�t get in
each other�s way.

The autoloader is always active, being registered with spl_autoload_register() at

the beginning of the framework�s execution.

Configuration
Initial configuration is done in /app/Config/Autoload.php. This file contains two
primary arrays: one for the classmap, and one for PSR-4 compatible namespaces.

Namespaces
The recommended method for organizing your classes is to create one or more
namespaces for your application�s files. This is most important for any business-
logic related classes, entity classes, etc. The psr4 array in the configuration
file allows you to map the namespace to the directory those classes can be found
in:

$psr4 = [
'App' => APPPATH,
'CodeIgniter' => SYSTEMPATH,
];
The key of each row is the namespace itself. This does not need a trailing slash.
If you use double-quotes to define the array, be sure to escape the backward slash.
That means that it would be My\\App, not My\App. The value is the location to the
directory the classes can be found in. They should have a trailing slash.

By default, the application folder is namespace to the App namespace. While you are
not forced to namespace the controllers, libraries, or models in the application
directory, if you do, they will be found under the App namespace. You may change
this namespace by editing the /app/Config/Constants.php file and setting the new
namespace value under the APP_NAMESPACE setting:

define('APP_NAMESPACE', 'App');
You will need to modify any existing files that are referencing the current
namespace.

Important

Config files are namespaced in the Config namespace, not in App\Config as you might
expect. This allows the core system files to always be able to locate them, even
when the application namespace has changed.

Classmap
The classmap is used extensively by CodeIgniter to eke the last ounces of
performance out of the system by not hitting the file-system with extra is_file()
calls. You can use the classmap to link to third-party libraries that are not
namespaced:

$classmap = [
'Markdown' => APPPATH . 'third_party/markdown.php'
];
The key of each row is the name of the class that you want to locate. The value is
the path to locate it at.

Composer Support
Composer support is automatically initialized by default. By default, it looks for
Composer�s autoload file at ROOTPATH . 'vendor/autoload.php'. If you need to change
the location of that file for any reason, you can modify the value defined in
Config\Constants.php.

Note

If the same namespace is defined in both CodeIgniter and Composer, CodeIgniter�s

autoloader will be the first one to get a chance to locate the file.