Class Finder Laravel Package

Getting Started

Start by installing the package via Composer:

composer require haydenpierce/class-finder

Then instantiate the ClassFinder class, passing it the namespace to scan and (optionally) a base directory path. The simplest use case is discovering all classes in a namespace—e.g., for command or event handler registration:

use HaydenPierce\ClassFinder\ClassFinder;

$finder = new ClassFinder('App\Commands');
$classes = $finder->getClasses(); // Returns fully qualified class names

Check the README.md for basic usage, and review the ClassFinder constructor signature and getClasses() return types.

Implementation Patterns

• Autodiscovery of CLI Commands: Auto-register Symfony Console commands by scanning App\Commands and looping over results to add to the console kernel.
• Plugin/Extension Systems: Load classes implementing a common interface (e.g., EventSubscriberInterface) from a plugin namespace using getClasses() and ReflectionClass to verify conformance.
• Dynamic Factory Setup: Build factories dynamically by scanning a namespace for factory classes and invoking static methods or instantiating them conditionally.
• Integration with Laravel Service Providers: In register(), scan a custom namespace (e.g., App\Listeners) and bind listeners via Event::listen() using reflection to extract handled events.

Always cache discovered classes in production (e.g., Laravel’s cache or config cache) to avoid repeated filesystem scanning.

Gotchas and Tips

• Performance: Scanning directories is expensive—especially in deep or large trees. Avoid calling getClasses() on every request; always cache. Laravel developers can use cache()->rememberForever() or hook into config/cache clears.
• Namespace vs. Directory Mapping: The package only works with PSR-0/4–compliant structures. Ensure your namespace prefix maps correctly to the base directory (e.g., App\ → app/). Passing an incorrect base path will yield empty results.
• Interface/Abstract Filtering: The package returns all classes in the namespace—including invalid or incomplete ones. You must manually filter using is_subclass_of(), instanceof, or reflection (e.g., implements SomeInterface).
• No Autoloading Dependency: Classes in the result list may not be autoloaded yet—calling new $class() may fail unless your autoloader (e.g., Composer’s) is invoked first. Use class_exists($class) or explicit require_once if needed.
• Extend via FilterClassFinder: For advanced filtering (e.g., only abstract classes or classes with a #[Attribute]), extend ClassFinder or use the FilterClassFinder decorator to pre-filter candidates before returning.