php

PHP: Idiomatic Efficiency Reference

When to Use

• Use this skill when the task matches this description: Language-specific super-code guidelines for php.

Table of Contents

1. [Arrays & Collections](#arrays)
2. [Type Safety](#types)
3. [Error Handling](#errors)
4. [String Handling](#strings)
5. [OOP & Modern PHP](#oop)
6. [Functions & Closures](#functions)
7. [Anti-patterns specific to PHP](#antipatterns)

---

1. Arrays & Collections {#arrays}

// ❌ Manual accumulation
$result = [];
foreach ($items as $item) {
    if ($item->isActive()) {
        $result[] = strtoupper($item->getName());
    }
}

// ✅
$result = array_map(
    fn($i) => strtoupper($i->getName()),
    array_filter($items, fn($i) => $i->isActive())
);

// ❌ Manual key-value grouping
$grouped = [];
foreach ($items as $item) {
    $grouped[$item->getCategory()][] = $item;
}

// ✅ (PHP 8.1+) — or use the loop above; PHP lacks a built-in groupBy
// The foreach is actually idiomatic PHP for grouping. No need to force array_* here.

// ❌ Checking isset then accessing
if (isset($data['key'])) {
    $value = $data['key'];
} else {
    $value = 'default';
}

// ✅
$value = $data['key'] ?? 'default';

// ❌ array_push for single element
array_push($items, $newItem);

// ✅
$items[] = $newItem;

**Use array_map/array_filter for transforms. The foreach loop is fine w