Pros of Collection

• More extensive type-hinting and generics support
• Includes additional specialized collection types (e.g., Queue, Set)
• Better adherence to SOLID principles and more modern PHP practices

Cons of Collection

• Steeper learning curve due to more complex API
• Potentially slower performance in some scenarios due to additional abstraction layers
• Less widespread adoption compared to Collections

Code Comparison

Collections:

$collection = new ArrayCollection([1, 2, 3]);
$filtered = $collection->filter(function($item) {
    return $item > 1;
});

Collection:

$collection = new ArrayList([1, 2, 3]);
$filtered = $collection->filter(fn($item): bool => $item > 1);

Both libraries provide similar functionality for basic collection operations. However, Collection offers more type-safe implementations and leverages newer PHP features like arrow functions.

Collection generally provides a more robust and type-safe approach to working with collections in PHP, but may require more initial setup and understanding. Collections, being more established, offers simplicity and widespread community support, though it may lack some advanced features and type safety improvements found in Collection.

Pros of Collect

• More extensive collection of methods and utilities
• Fluent, chainable API for easier method chaining
• Better performance for large datasets

Cons of Collect

• Larger library size, potentially increasing project footprint
• Steeper learning curve due to more extensive API

Code Comparison

Collections:

$collection = new ArrayCollection([1, 2, 3]);
$filtered = $collection->filter(function($item) {
    return $item > 1;
});

Collect:

$collection = collect([1, 2, 3]);
$filtered = $collection->filter(function($item) {
    return $item > 1;
});

Key Differences

• Collections focuses on basic collection operations
• Collect offers a wider range of methods for data manipulation
• Collect provides a more Laravel-style syntax
• Collections is part of the Doctrine ecosystem, while Collect is standalone

Use Cases

Collections:

• Ideal for Doctrine ORM projects
• Suitable for simpler collection needs

Collect:

• Better for complex data manipulation tasks
• Preferred in Laravel-based projects or when seeking a more feature-rich collection library

Both libraries offer similar core functionality, but Collect provides a more extensive and flexible API at the cost of a larger footprint and potential complexity.

Pros of laravel-collection-macros

• Specifically designed for Laravel, integrating seamlessly with the framework's ecosystem
• Provides a wide range of additional collection methods, enhancing Laravel's built-in collection functionality
• Regularly updated and maintained by a reputable Laravel package developer (Spatie)

Cons of laravel-collection-macros

• Limited to Laravel projects, whereas collections can be used in any PHP project
• May introduce a learning curve for developers unfamiliar with the additional macros
• Potential performance overhead due to the added functionality

Code Comparison

laravel-collection-macros:

collect([1, 2, 3, 4])->ifAny(function ($item) {
    return $item > 5;
}, function ($collection) {
    return $collection->sum();
});

collections:

$collection = new ArrayCollection([1, 2, 3, 4]);
$result = $collection->exists(function($key, $value) {
    return $value > 5;
}) ? $collection->sum() : null;

Both libraries provide powerful collection manipulation tools, but laravel-collection-macros offers more Laravel-specific features and a more expressive syntax. collections, on the other hand, provides a more general-purpose solution that can be used in various PHP projects beyond the Laravel ecosystem.