Map Laravel Package

Getting Started

Start by installing via Composer:

composer require aimeos/map  

The package provides a fluent, immutable Map class that extends ArrayObject for easy array manipulation. Your first use case: transforming data. Instead of nested array_map() and array_filter() calls, chain methods:

use Aimeos\Map\Map;  

$users = new Map([  
    ['id' => 1, 'name' => 'Alice', 'active' => true],  
    ['id' => 2, 'name' => 'Bob', 'active' => false],  
]);  

$result = $users  
    ->filter(fn($u) => $u['active'])  
    ->map(fn($u) => $u['name'])  
    ->toArray(); // ['Alice']  

Check the examples/ directory in the repo for quick starter snippets—though the package is lightweight, it lacks extensive official docs.

Implementation Patterns

• Immutable Operations: All mutating methods (e.g., map(), filter()) return a new Map instance. Use ->apply() to mutate in-place when safe (e.g., internal state).
• Lazy Evaluation: Chain operations freely; processing happens only on toArray(), toJson(), or iteration. Ideal for API responses or data pipelines:

  $pipeline = (new Map($largeDataset))  
      ->filter expensiveFilter()  
      ->map expensiveTransform()  
      ->sort();  
  $output = $pipeline->toArray(); // triggers processing  
  

• Type Coercion: Convert numeric keys to associative arrays automatically:

  new Map([1, 2, 3])->keyBy(fn($v) => "item_{$v}");  
  

• Interoperability: Works natively with Laravel Collections via ->map() → Map::fromArray($laravelCollection->all()).

Gotchas and Tips

• Key Preservation: map() preserves numeric keys by default. Use ->keyBy(fn($v) => $v['id']) if keys must reset.
• Performance: Avoid repeated count() or toArray() calls inside loops—cache the Map instance.
• No Recursive Operations: map() doesn’t recurse into nested arrays. For deep transforms, use custom recursion or forEachDeep() (if available in newer versions).
• Debugging: print_r() on a Map shows internal ArrayObject structure. Use ->debug() (if added) or cast to array: (array)$map.
• Extension: Extend Map to add domain-specific methods (e.g., validate(), toDto()) without breaking immutability:

  class UserMap extends Map {  
      public function active(): self {  
          return $this->filter(fn($u) => $u['active']);  
      }  
  }