php - Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STATIC

class Employee 
{
    public static $favSport = "Football";

    public static function watchTV()
    {
        echo "Watching ".static::$favSport;
    }
}


class Executive extends Employee 
{
    public static $favSport = "Polo";
}

echo Executive::watchTV();

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STATIC on line 7

Why do I get parse error & and how to fix it? Thanks!

Answer

The parse error here:

echo "Watching ".static::$favSport;

is because late static bindings were introduced in PHP v5.3. Your php version (<5.3) doesn't recognize static::$favSport.

There isn't any way I can think of to fix it for PHP older than 5.3, other than with object inheritance (which isn't really a fix per se since it doesn't have anything to do with static)...