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The easiest and fastest PHP DTO library in the world - quickly generate useful data transfer objects for your app (mutable/immutable)

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# PHP Data Transfer Objects

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Framework-agnostic DTO library with **code generation** for PHP.

Unlike runtime reflection libraries, this library generates optimized DTO classes at build time, giving you:
- **Zero runtime reflection overhead**
- **Perfect IDE autocomplete** with real methods
- **Excellent static analysis** support (PHPStan/Psalm work out of the box)
- **Reviewable generated code** in pull requests
- **JSON Schema generation** for API documentation
- **Schema importer** to bootstrap DTOs from JSON data or OpenAPI specs

See [Motivation](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/guide/motivation) for why code generation beats runtime reflection.

## Installation

```bash
composer require php-collective/dto
```

## Quick Start

Define DTOs in PHP (or XML, YAML, NEON):

```php
// config/dto.php
use PhpCollective\Dto\Config\Dto;
use PhpCollective\Dto\Config\Field;
use PhpCollective\Dto\Config\Schema;

return Schema::create()
    ->dto(Dto::create('Car')->fields(
        Field::string('color'),
        Field::dto('owner', 'Owner'),
    ))
    ->dto(Dto::create('Owner')->fields(
        Field::string('name'),
    ))
    ->toArray();
```

Generate and use:

```bash
vendor/bin/dto generate
```

```php
$car = CarDto::createFromArray(['color' => 'red']);
$car->setOwner(OwnerDto::create(['name' => 'John']));
$array = $car->toArray();
```

See the [documentation](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/) for detailed examples.

## Immutable DTOs

A more realistic example using immutable DTOs for a blog system:

```php
// config/dto.php
return Schema::create()
    ->dto(Dto::immutable('Article')->fields(
        Field::int('id')->required(),
        Field::string('title')->required(),
        Field::string('slug')->required(),
        Field::string('content'),
        Field::dto('author', 'Author')->required(),
        Field::collection('tags', 'Tag')->singular('tag'),
        Field::bool('published')->default(false),
        Field::string('publishedAt'),
    ))
    ->dto(Dto::immutable('Author')->fields(
        Field::string('name')->required(),
        Field::string('email'),
        Field::string('avatarUrl'),
    ))
    ->dto(Dto::immutable('Tag')->fields(
        Field::string('name')->required(),
        Field::string('slug')->required(),
    ))
    ->toArray();
```

```php
// Creating from API/database response
$article = ArticleDto::createFromArray($apiResponse);
```

Reading in a template (e.g., Twig, Blade, or plain PHP):

```php

<article>
    <h1><?= htmlspecialchars($article->getTitle()) ?></h1>
    <p class="meta">
        By <?= htmlspecialchars($article->getAuthor()->getName()) ?>
        <?php if ($article->getPublishedAt()) { ?>
            on <?= $article->getPublishedAt() ?>
        <?php } ?>
    </p>

<div class="tags">
        <?php foreach ($article->getTags() as $tag) { ?>
            <a href="/tag/<?= $tag->getSlug() ?>"><?= htmlspecialchars($tag->getName()) ?></a>
        <?php } ?>
    </div>

<div class="content">
        <?= $article->getContent() ?>
    </div>
</article>
```

## Features

- **Types**: `int`, `float`, `string`, `bool`, `array`, `mixed`, DTOs, classes, enums
- **Union types**: `int|string`, `int|float|string`
- **Collections**: `'type' => 'Item[]', 'collection' => true` with add/remove/get/has methods
- **Associative collections**: keyed access with `'associative' => true`
- **Immutable DTOs**: `'immutable' => true` with `with*()` methods
- **Readonly properties**: `public readonly` with direct property access
- **Validation rules**: built-in `minLength`, `maxLength`, `min`, `max`, `pattern` constraints
- **Lazy properties**: deferred DTO/collection hydration with `asLazy()`
- **Default values**: `'defaultValue' => 0`
- **Required fields**: `'required' => true`
- **Deprecations**: `'deprecated' => 'Use newField instead'`
- **Inflection**: automatic snake_case/camelCase/dash-case conversion
- **Deep cloning**: `$dto->clone()`
- **Nested reading**: `$dto->read(['path', 'to', 'field'])`
- **PHPDoc generics**: `@var \ArrayObject<int, ItemDto>` for static analysis
- **[TypeScript generation](#typescript-generation)**: Generate TypeScript interfaces from your DTO configs
- **[Schema Importer](#schema-importer)**: Auto-create DTOs from JSON data or JSON Schema

## Configuration Formats

- **PHP** - native arrays or [fluent builder](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/guide/config-builder)
- **XML** - XSD validation, IDE autocomplete
- **YAML** - requires `pecl install yaml`
- **NEON** - requires `nette/neon`

## TypeScript Generation

Generate TypeScript interfaces directly from your DTO configuration - keeping frontend and backend types in sync:

```bash
# Single file output
vendor/bin/dto typescript --config-path=config/ --output=frontend/src/types/

# Multi-file with separate imports
vendor/bin/dto typescript --multi-file --file-case=dashed --output=types/
```

```typescript
// Generated: types/dto.ts
export interface UserDto {
    id: number;
    name: string;
    email: string;
    address?: AddressDto;
    roles?: RoleDto[];
}
```

Options: `--readonly`, `--strict-nulls`, `--file-case=pascal|dashed|snake`

See [TypeScript Generation](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/reference/typescript) for full documentation.

## Schema Importer

Bootstrap DTO configurations from existing JSON data or JSON Schema definitions:

```php
use PhpCollective\Dto\Importer\Importer;

$importer = new Importer();

// From API response example
$json = '{"name": "John", "age": 30, "email": "john@example.com"}';
$config = $importer->import($json);

// From JSON Schema
$schema = file_get_contents('openapi-schema.json');
$config = $importer->import($schema, ['format' => 'xml']);
```

Outputs to PHP, XML, YAML, or NEON format. Perfect for integrating with external APIs.

See [Schema Importer](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/reference/importer) for full documentation.

## Documentation

Full documentation available at **[php-collective.github.io/dto](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/)**

- [Getting Started](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/guide/) - Quick start guide with examples
- [Configuration Builder](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/guide/config-builder) - Fluent API for defining DTOs
- [Runtime API](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/guide/runtime-api) - Core DTO methods and global runtime options
- [Examples](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/guide/examples) - Practical usage patterns
- [Circular Dependencies](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/guide/circular-dependencies) - How generation-time cycle detection works
- [TypeScript Generation](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/reference/typescript) - Generate TypeScript interfaces
- [JSON Schema Generation](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/reference/jsonschema) - Generate JSON Schema for DTO definitions
- [Schema Importer](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/reference/importer) - Bootstrap DTOs from JSON data/schema
- [Performance](https://php-collective.github.io/dto/guide/performance) - Benchmarks and optimization tips

## Integrations

This is the standalone core library. For framework-specific integrations:

- **CakePHP**: [dereuromark/cakephp-dto](https://github.com/dereuromark/cakephp-dto) - Bake commands, plugin
- **Laravel**: [php-collective/laravel-dto](https://github.com/php-collective/laravel-dto) - Artisan commands, service provider
- **Symfony**: [php-collective/symfony-dto](https://github.com/php-collective/symfony-dto) - Console commands, bundle integration

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