Collection

Minmalistic typed arrays/collections for PHP.

There are many collection libraries for PHP, but none exactly like I wanted. Most collection libraries add quite a lot of extra functionality I'm not looking for.

What collection does:

• Simple & lightweight
• Array syntax
• Allow typehinting for array of objects

Motivation

Typehinting "array" in PHP is not really descriptive. Sometimes its preferable to use collection-like typed arrays. This library provides common parent to make creating these collections less boilerplatey.

Install

composer require silvanus/collection

Usage

Create your own collection class that extends abstract parent.

<?php

// Parent class.
use Silvanus\Collection\AbstractCollection;

class DummyCollection extends AbstractCollection
{
    /**
     * Provide your class with getType function.
     * Return fully qualified namespace of your tpye. 
     */
    protected function getType() : string {
        return 'Acme\App\DummyEntity';
    }
}

And thats it. Your collection works like an array, but only accepts your defined type.

<?php

// Your collection
use Acme\App\DummyCollection;

// Your object.
use Acme\App\DummyEntity;

$collection = new DummyCollection();

// All good.
$collection[] = new DummyEntity(1);
$collection[] = new DummyEntity(2);

// Exception thrown
$collection[] = new DateTime();

You can also turn an array into a collection.

<?php

// Your collection
use Acme\App\DummyCollection;

// Your object.
use Acme\App\DummyEntity;

$array = array( new DummyEntity(1), new DummyEntity(2), new DummyEntity(3) );

// Will throw exceptions if incorrect types in array.
$collection = new DummyCollection( $array );