Valitron Laravel Package

Product Decisions This Supports

• Decoupling validation logic from Laravel’s built-in validator: Reduces dependency on Symfony components, improving performance and maintainability for lightweight or standalone PHP projects.
• Roadmap for modular validation: Enables incremental adoption of validation rules without committing to Laravel’s full ecosystem (e.g., for microservices or legacy systems).
• Build vs. buy: Justifies buying this package over building a custom validator when:
  • The team lacks bandwidth to develop/maintain validation logic.
  • The project requires minimal dependencies (e.g., CLI tools, APIs).
  • Conditional validation (e.g., requiredWith, requiredWithout) is a priority.
• Use cases:
  • APIs: Validate incoming requests (e.g., $_POST, JSON) with granular error responses.
  • Forms: Replace Laravel’s FormRequest validation for reusable, framework-agnostic rules.
  • Legacy systems: Integrate with existing PHP codebases without pulling in Laravel’s full stack.
  • Testing: Validate test data structures (e.g., mock user inputs) without framework overhead.

When to Consider This Package

Adopt Valitron when:

• Your project prioritizes minimalism (no Symfony dependencies, ~10KB footprint).
• You need conditional validation (e.g., "require password only if email is provided").
• Your team prefers chainable, fluent syntax over Laravel’s Validator::extend() or Rule objects.
• You’re building non-Laravel PHP apps (e.g., CLI tools, APIs, or standalone services).
• You require dot notation for nested arrays (e.g., settings.*.threshold).

Look elsewhere when:

• You’re deeply invested in Laravel’s ecosystem (use Laravel’s built-in validator for consistency).
• You need advanced features like custom rule objects, pipelines, or translation integration (Laravel’s validator offers these out of the box).
• Your project requires database-backed validation (e.g., unique checks via Rule::unique()).
• You’re using PHP 5.3 (Valitron supports it, but Laravel’s validator targets newer PHP versions).

How to Pitch It (Stakeholders)

For Executives: "Valitron is a lightweight, dependency-free validation library that lets us own our data rules without bloating our codebase. It’s ideal for APIs, microservices, or legacy systems where we want to avoid Laravel’s full stack. By adopting this, we reduce technical debt, improve performance (no Symfony dependencies), and maintain flexibility for future tooling. For example, it’s perfect for validating user inputs in our new CLI tool—no framework overhead, just pure validation logic."

For Engineers: *"Valitron gives us a simple, chainable API for validation with no dependencies, making it easier to:

• Reuse rules across projects (e.g., form validation, API payloads).
• Handle complex conditions like requiredWith or requiredWithout without custom logic.
• Integrate seamlessly with existing PHP codebases (no Laravel required).
• Customize error messages and validation logic without framework constraints.

Comparison to Laravel’s validator:

Proposal: Use Valitron for new validation-heavy components (e.g., API endpoints, forms) where minimalism is key. For Laravel projects, stick with the built-in validator to leverage ecosystem tools like translation or database-backed rules."*