uuid:
  - value: c9ccd7f8-4727-49fa-9481-4507e7986fd9
langcode:
  - value: en
type:
  - target_id: daily_email
    target_type: node_type
    target_uuid: 8bde1f2f-eef9-4f2d-ae9c-96921f8193d7
revision_timestamp:
  - value: '2025-05-11T08:59:58+00:00'
revision_uid:
  - target_type: user
    target_uuid: b8966985-d4b2-42a7-a319-2e94ccfbb849
revision_log: {  }
status:
  - value: true
uid:
  - target_type: user
    target_uuid: b8966985-d4b2-42a7-a319-2e94ccfbb849
title:
  - value: 'Why use Collections?'
created:
  - value: '2025-03-30T00:00:00+00:00'
changed:
  - value: '2025-05-11T08:59:58+00:00'
promote:
  - value: false
sticky:
  - value: false
default_langcode:
  - value: true
revision_translation_affected:
  - value: true
path:
  - alias: /daily/2025/03/30/why-collections
    langcode: en
body:
  - value: |
      <p>Yesterday, I wrote how to create <a href="/daily/2025/03/29/collections">dependency free Collection classes in PHP</a> (thanks to Dan Leech).</p>

      <p>I said that <a href="/blog/using-laravel-collections-drupal">I've written blog posts</a> and <a href="/presentations/using-illuminate-collections-outside-laravel">given talks</a> on using Collection classes.</p>

      <p>But why do I like Collections and why may you want to use them instead of native arrays?</p>

      <p>The first reason is that I can add extra functionality to Collections, because they're objects.</p>

      <p>Whether it's a generic action such as filtering or sorting the items, or something more specific like returning a list of station codes from a collection of train stations, this can be added to specific collection classes.</p>

      <p>I'll usually have an <code>AbstractCollection</code> that has the generic methods and is extended by specific Collection types with methods more specific methods.</p>

      <p>Having specific types of Collection objects also gives my code more context.</p>

      <p>Instead of an array that could contain anything, by reading the code and seeing which Collection types are used, I know what the collection contains and what I can do with it.</p>

      <p>This is also why I like value objects.</p>

      <p>Giving objects specific names instead of relying on the language's primitive types makes the code more robust and easier to read and understand.</p>

              
    format: full_html
    processed: |
      <p>Yesterday, I wrote how to create <a href="/daily/2025/03/29/collections">dependency free Collection classes in PHP</a> (thanks to Dan Leech).</p>

      <p>I said that <a href="/blog/using-laravel-collections-drupal">I've written blog posts</a> and <a href="/presentations/using-illuminate-collections-outside-laravel">given talks</a> on using Collection classes.</p>

      <p>But why do I like Collections and why may you want to use them instead of native arrays?</p>

      <p>The first reason is that I can add extra functionality to Collections, because they're objects.</p>

      <p>Whether it's a generic action such as filtering or sorting the items, or something more specific like returning a list of station codes from a collection of train stations, this can be added to specific collection classes.</p>

      <p>I'll usually have an <code>AbstractCollection</code> that has the generic methods and is extended by specific Collection types with methods more specific methods.</p>

      <p>Having specific types of Collection objects also gives my code more context.</p>

      <p>Instead of an array that could contain anything, by reading the code and seeing which Collection types are used, I know what the collection contains and what I can do with it.</p>

      <p>This is also why I like value objects.</p>

      <p>Giving objects specific names instead of relying on the language's primitive types makes the code more robust and easier to read and understand.</p>

              
    summary: null
field_daily_email_cta: {  }