LiteDto & SimpleDto

Data Helpers provides two DTO implementations, each optimized for different use cases:

• LiteDto - Maximum performance with minimal overhead
• SimpleDto - Full-featured with validation, type casting and advanced features

Quick Overview

LiteDto

LiteDto is designed for maximum performance when you need fast data transfer without validation or type casting.

use event4u\DataHelpers\LiteDto;

class UserDto extends LiteDto
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string $name,
        public readonly string $email,
        public readonly int $age,
    ) {}
}

$user = UserDto::from(['name' => 'John', 'email' => 'john@example.com', 'age' => 30]);

Best for:

• High-performance APIs
• Data transfer between layers
• Simple data structures
• When validation is handled elsewhere

SimpleDto

SimpleDto provides full validation and type casting with a rich feature set.

use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDto;
use event4u\DataHelpers\Attributes\Validation\Email;
use event4u\DataHelpers\Attributes\Validation\Min;

class UserDto extends SimpleDto
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string $name,

        #[Email]
        public readonly string $email,

        #[Min(18)]
        public readonly int $age,
    ) {}
}

$user = UserDto::from(['name' => 'John', 'email' => 'john@example.com', 'age' => 30]);

Best for:

• Form validation
• API input validation
• Complex data structures
• When you need type casting (DateTime, Enum, etc.)

Performance Tip: Use #[UltraFast] attribute for 3-4x faster performance when validation is not needed:

use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDto;
use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDto\Attributes\UltraFast;
use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDto\Attributes\MapFrom;
use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDto\Attributes\Hidden;

#[UltraFast]  // Auto-detect attributes, skip validation (~2-3μs)
class UserDto extends SimpleDto
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string $name,

        #[MapFrom('email_address')]  // Still works!
        public readonly string $email,

        #[Hidden]  // Still works!
        public readonly string $password,
    ) {}
}

// Ultra-fast creation: ~2-3μs (3-4x faster than normal SimpleDto!)
$user = UserDto::from([
    'name' => 'John',
    'email_address' => 'john@example.com',
    'password' => 'secret',
]);

Performance & Feature Comparison

Feature	LiteDto #[UltraFast]	LiteDto	SimpleDto #[UltraFast]	SimpleDto
Creation Performance	~2.3μs	~3.7μs	~4.7μs	~5.7μs
Creation Speed Factor	2.4x faster	1.5x faster	1.2x faster	Baseline
Serialization Performance	~4.4μs	~6.5μs	~30.1μs	~31.8μs
Serialization Speed Factor	7.3x faster	4.9x faster	1.1x faster	Baseline
Core Features
Property Mapping	✅	✅	✅	✅
Nested DTOs	✅	✅	✅	✅
Collections	✅	✅	✅	✅
Hidden Properties	✅	✅	✅	✅
Immutability	✅	✅	✅	✅
Validation
Built-in Validation	❌	❌	❌	✅
Custom Validation	❌	❌	❌	✅
Validation Attributes	❌	❌	❌	✅
Type Casting
Automatic Casting	❌	❌	✅	✅
DateTime Casting	❌	❌	✅	✅
Enum Casting	❌	❌	✅	✅
Custom Casts	❌	❌	✅	✅
Advanced Features
Computed Properties	❌	❌	❌	✅
Lazy Properties	❌	❌	❌	✅
Conditional Properties	❌	❌	❌	✅
Hooks & Events	❌	❌	❌	✅
Dot Notation Access	✅	✅	✅	✅
Data Conversion
Converter Support	☑️	☑️	✅	✅
ConvertEmptyToNull	❌	✅	✅	✅
JSON/XML Support	☑️	☑️	✅	✅
Developer Experience
IDE Autocomplete	✅	✅	✅	✅
TypeScript Generation	✅	✅	✅	✅
Constructor Promotion	✅	✅	✅	✅
Property Attributes	☑️	☑️	☑️	✅

Legend:

• ✅ Fully supported
• ☑️ Partially supported or optional
• ❌ Not supported

Available Attributes

Attribute	LiteDto #[UltraFast]	LiteDto	SimpleDto #[UltraFast]	SimpleDto
Class Attributes
#[UltraFast]	✅	✅	✅	✅
#[ConverterMode]	❌	✅	❌	✅
#[AutoCast]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[NoAttributes]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[NoCasts]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[NoValidation]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[ValidateRequest]	❌	❌	❌	✅
Property Attributes
#[MapFrom]	✴️	✅	✴️	✅
#[MapTo]	✴️	✅	✴️	✅
#[MapInputName]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[MapOutputName]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Hidden]	❌	✅	❌	✅
#[HiddenFromArray]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[HiddenFromJson]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Visible]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[CastWith]	✴️	✅	✴️	✅
#[EnumSerialize]	❌	✅	❌	✅
#[ConvertEmptyToNull]	❌	✅	❌	✅
#[DataCollectionOf]	❌	✅	❌	✅
#[Computed]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Lazy]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Optional]	❌	❌	❌	✅
Validation Attributes
#[Required]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[RequiredIf]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[RequiredUnless]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[RequiredWith]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[RequiredWithout]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Nullable]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Sometimes]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Email]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Url]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Uuid]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Ip]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Json]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Min]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Max]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Between]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Size]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[In]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[NotIn]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Regex]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[StartsWith]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[EndsWith]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Confirmed]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[ConfirmedBy]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Same]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Different]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Unique]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Exists]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[File]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Image]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[Mimes]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[MimeTypes]	❌	❌	❌	✅
Conditional Attributes
#[WhenCallback]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenValue]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenEquals]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenIn]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenTrue]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenFalse]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenNull]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenNotNull]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenInstanceOf]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenContext]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenContextEquals]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenContextIn]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenContextNotNull]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenAuth] (Laravel)	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenGuest] (Laravel)	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenCan] (Laravel)	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenRole] (Laravel)	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenGranted] (Symfony)	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WhenSymfonyRole] (Symfony)	❌	❌	❌	✅
Other Attributes
#[RuleGroup]	❌	❌	❌	✅
#[WithMessage]	❌	❌	❌	✅

Legend:

• ✅ Fully supported
• ☑️ Partially supported or optional -✴️ Can be re-enabled with UltraFast parameters (e.g., #[UltraFast(allowMapFrom: true)])
• ❌ Not supported

Performance Notes:

• #[UltraFast]: Available for both LiteDto and SimpleDto
  • LiteDto: Can re-enable specific attributes (e.g., #[UltraFast(allowMapFrom: true)])
  • SimpleDto: Auto-detects which attributes are used and processes only those
• #[ConverterMode]: Available for LiteDto (normal mode) and SimpleDto
• #[AutoCast]: Enables automatic type casting for native PHP types (SimpleDto only)
• #[NoAttributes]: Skips ALL attribute processing for maximum performance (SimpleDto only)
• #[NoCasts]: Disables all type casting (SimpleDto only)
• #[NoValidation]: Skips ALL validation for trusted data sources (SimpleDto only)
• #[ValidateRequest]: Enables automatic request validation in Laravel/Symfony (SimpleDto only)
• #[Optional]: Zero overhead when not used (opt-in via feature flag, SimpleDto only)

Detailed Comparison

Performance

LiteDto is optimized for speed:

• ~4.5μs average creation time (normal mode)
• ~2.0μs with #[UltraFast] (3.8x faster than SimpleDto)
• Minimal reflection overhead
• No validation or casting overhead
• Use #[UltraFast] attribute for even better performance

SimpleDto provides full features:

• ~7.6μs average creation time (normal mode)
• ~7.7μs with #[UltraFast] (1.0x faster)
• Includes validation and type casting
• Rich attribute system
• More overhead but more features
• Use #[UltraFast] attribute to skip validation/casting when not needed

Use Cases

Choose LiteDto When:

✅ Performance is critical

• High-throughput APIs (1000+ requests/second)
• Real-time data processing
• Microservices communication
• Data transfer between layers

✅ Simple data structures

• No validation needed
• No type casting required
• Straightforward mapping

✅ Validation handled elsewhere

• Form validation in frontend
• API gateway validation
• Database constraints

Choose SimpleDto When:

✅ Validation is required

• Form input validation
• API request validation
• Business rule enforcement
• Tip: Use on-demand validation for best performance (create fast, validate when needed)

✅ Type casting needed

• DateTime conversion
• Enum mapping
• Custom type transformations

✅ Advanced features required

• Conditional properties
• Hooks and events
• Dot notation access

✅ Complex data structures

• Nested validation
• Collection validation
• Cross-field validation

Performance Tips

LiteDto Optimization

• Avoid #[ConverterMode] when only using arrays (~0.5μs overhead)
• Use readonly properties (required)
• Minimize nested DTOs
• Minimize attribute usage
• Use #[UltraFast] for even better performance (~2.0μs)

SimpleDto Optimization

• Use #[UltraFast] mode when validation is not needed (~7.7μs)
• Enable caching for repeated use
• Minimize validation rules
• Use computed properties sparingly

Migration Between DTOs

From SimpleDto to LiteDto

If you need better performance and don’t need validation:

// Before: SimpleDto
class UserDto extends SimpleDto
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string $name,
        public readonly string $email,
        public readonly int $age,
    ) {}
}

// After: LiteDto
class UserDto extends LiteDto
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string $name,
        public readonly string $email,
        public readonly int $age,
    ) {}
}

From LiteDto to SimpleDto

If you need validation or type casting:

// Before: LiteDto
class UserDto extends LiteDto
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string $name,
        public readonly string $email,
        public readonly int $age,
    ) {}
}

// After: SimpleDto
class UserDto extends SimpleDto
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string $name,

        #[Email]
        public readonly string $email,

        #[Min(18)]
        public readonly int $age,
    ) {}
}

Performance Tips

LiteDto Optimization

• Avoid #[ConverterMode] when only using arrays (~0.5μs overhead)
• Use readonly properties (required)
• Minimize nested DTOs
• Minimize attribute usage

SimpleDto Optimization

• Use #[UltraFast] mode when validation is not needed (~2-3μs, 3-4x faster)
• UltraFast auto-detects which attributes are used (zero overhead for unused features)
• Enable caching for repeated use
• Minimize validation rules
• Use computed properties sparingly
• Combine #[UltraFast] with #[ConverterMode] for JSON/XML support

Learn More

LiteDto Documentation

• LiteDto Introduction - Getting started
• Creating LiteDtos - Best practices
• LiteDto Attributes - Available attributes
• LiteDto Performance - Optimization tips

SimpleDto Documentation

• SimpleDto Introduction - Getting started
• Creating Dtos - Best practices
• Validation - Validation rules
• Type Casting - Type conversion
• Performance Modes - UltraFast mode

Next Steps

• Choose LiteDto for performance →
• Choose SimpleDto for validation →
• Compare all performance benchmarks →