How to access $post from a callback function

Question

I am wondering whether using global $post is a 'best practice' when it is necessary to get the $post within a callback function triggered by an action hook.

The code would be:

class myPlugin {

    public function __construct() {
        add_action('wp', array( $this, 'init'));
    }

    public function init() {

        global $post;

        if (isset($post)) {
            // do something
        }

    }
}

I've tried to:

• Call the init function with $post as argument; and

• What is posted here

But, none of the options work.

How safe would be to use global? Let's say that the 'do something' is a custom WP Query, which may change the value of $post, having declared it global has the potential of doing something unexpected right?

Is there a better way?

Cheers.

Answer 1

Short answer "no", using globals is never a best practice, indicates that you might be trying to do something in the wrong place, and should be left as a last resort.

In your snippet for example you have no idea who set the $post, was it set in the loop or outside it, was it a single post loop, etc.

As a rule of thumb never use globals, they are just evil.