Pros of laravel-fractal

• Seamless integration with Laravel, including Facades and Service Providers
• Built-in support for Laravel's pagination
• Simplified API with Laravel-specific helper methods

Cons of laravel-fractal

• Limited to Laravel framework, less flexible for other PHP projects
• Fewer customization options compared to the more generic fractal package
• Smaller community and potentially slower updates

Code Comparison

fractal:

$resource = new Item($book, new BookTransformer);
$manager = new Manager();
$manager->createData($resource)->toArray();

laravel-fractal:

fractal()
    ->item($book)
    ->transformWith(new BookTransformer)
    ->toArray();

Key Differences

• laravel-fractal provides a more concise syntax for Laravel applications
• fractal offers greater flexibility and can be used in any PHP project
• laravel-fractal leverages Laravel's dependency injection and configuration system
• fractal has a larger community and more frequent updates
• laravel-fractal includes Laravel-specific features like pagination support out of the box

Both packages are based on the Fractal specification, but laravel-fractal is tailored specifically for Laravel applications, while fractal is a more general-purpose implementation suitable for any PHP project.

Pros of dingo/api

• More comprehensive API solution, offering routing, rate limiting, and authentication out of the box
• Built-in support for API versioning, allowing easier management of multiple API versions
• Includes OAuth2 server implementation for secure API authentication

Cons of dingo/api

• Steeper learning curve due to its more complex feature set
• Less flexibility in data transformation compared to Fractal's layered approach
• Potentially overkill for simpler API projects that don't require all features

Code Comparison

dingo/api:

$api = app('Dingo\Api\Routing\Router');

$api->version('v1', function ($api) {
    $api->get('users', 'App\Http\Controllers\UserController@index');
});

fractal:

$fractal = new Manager();
$resource = new Item($user, new UserTransformer);
$array = $fractal->createData($resource)->toArray();

Summary

dingo/api offers a more comprehensive API solution with built-in features like routing, versioning, and authentication. It's ideal for complex API projects but may be overkill for simpler ones. fractal, on the other hand, focuses primarily on data transformation and serialization, providing more flexibility in this area. The choice between the two depends on the specific needs of your project and the level of control you require over API functionality.