Should this be a collection or an array?

Code review is an opportunity to learn from others and get better at what you do. Even a simple question can make you take a step back and think about why you did something a certain way.

Recently, Aaron was reviewing my code where I added a method to a model that was filtering, mapping, and sorting a JSON property, and then I cast the result to an array before returning it. My method was then being used in a Blade template to create a comma-separated list of values with the PHP implode() function.

Aaron asked: Why are you casting this to an array? Why not just leave it as a collection, and then use the built-in $collection->implode() method instead?

It was a tiny thing, but it was a good point. Why was I doing this extra cast, when the collection would work just as well? So I simplified the code, left it as a collection, and was grateful for the feedback.

The point of bringing this up isn't to make a rule one way or the other, but to remind you to think about the context for a given piece of code. At a minimum, you should have a reason why you're choosing to cast an array to a collection, or the other way around.

Here to help,

Joel

P.S. Don't have anyone to review your code? You can always share a small snippet of code in our private Laravel community to get friendly feedback.