Type hinting - specify an array of objects

Question

How can I specify the argument type as an array? Say I have a class named \'Foo\':

class Foo {}

and then I have a function that accepts tha

Answer 1

If you want to ensure you are working with "Array of Foo" and you want to ensure methods receive "Array of Foo", you can:

class ArrayOfFoo extends \ArrayObject {
    public function offsetSet($key, $val) {
        if ($val instanceof Foo) {
            return parent::offsetSet($key, $val);
        }
        throw new \InvalidArgumentException('Value must be a Foo');
    }
}

then:

function workWithFoo(ArrayOfFoo $foos) {
    foreach ($foos as $foo) {
        // etc.
    }
}

$foos = new ArrayOfFoos();
$foos[] = new Foo();
workWithFoo($foos);

The secret sauce is that you're defining a new "type" of "array of foo", then passing that "type" around using type hinting protection.

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The Haldayne library handles the boilerplate for membership requirement checks if you don't want to roll your own:

class ArrayOfFoo extends \Haldayne\Boost\MapOfObjects {
    protected function allowed($value) { return $value instanceof Foo; }
}

(Full-disclosure, I'm the author of Haldayne.)

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Historical note: the Array Of RFC proposed this feature back in 2014. The RFC was declined with 4 yay and 16 nay. The concept recently reappeared on the internals list, but the complaints have been much the same as levied against the original RFC: adding this check would significantly affect performance.