IDE Support

Learn how to configure your IDE for the best SimpleDTO development experience.

Introduction

SimpleDTO provides excellent IDE support with:

• Full Autocompletion - All properties and methods
• Type Inference - Automatic type detection
• PHPDoc Support - Rich documentation
• Attribute Support - PHP 8 attributes
• Navigation - Jump to definition
• Refactoring - Safe renaming and moving

PhpStorm / IntelliJ IDEA

Installation

PhpStorm has built-in support for PHP 8 attributes and readonly properties.

Configuration

1. Enable PHP 8.2+ Support

   • Go to Settings → PHP
   • Set PHP language level to 8.2 or higher

2. Install Laravel Idea Plugin (for Laravel projects)

   • Go to Settings → Plugins
   • Search for “Laravel Idea”
   • Install and restart

3. Install Symfony Plugin (for Symfony projects)

   • Go to Settings → Plugins
   • Search for “Symfony Support”
   • Install and restart

Features

Autocompletion

$dto = UserDTO::fromArray([
    'name' => 'John',
    'email' => 'john@example.com',
]);

// PhpStorm provides autocompletion for:
$dto->name // ✅ Autocompletes
$dto->email // ✅ Autocompletes
$dto->toArray() // ✅ Autocompletes
$dto->toJson() // ✅ Autocompletes

Type Inference

// PhpStorm knows the return type
$dto = UserDTO::fromArray($data); // UserDTO
$array = $dto->toArray(); // array
$json = $dto->toJson(); // string

Navigation

• Ctrl+Click (or Cmd+Click on Mac) on property to jump to definition
• Ctrl+B to go to declaration
• Ctrl+Alt+B to go to implementation

Refactoring

• Right-click property → Refactor → Rename to safely rename
• Right-click class → Refactor → Move to move to different namespace

VS Code

Installation

Install the following extensions:

1. PHP Intelephense

   ext install bmewburn.vscode-intelephense-client

2. PHP DocBlocker

   ext install neilbrayfield.php-docblocker

3. Laravel Extra Intellisense (for Laravel)

   ext install amiralizadeh9480.laravel-extra-intellisense

Configuration

Create .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "php.suggest.basic": false,
  "intelephense.stubs": [
    "Core",
    "PDO",
    "SPL",
    "standard"
  ],
  "intelephense.environment.phpVersion": "8.2.0",
  "intelephense.completion.triggerParameterHints": true,
  "intelephense.completion.insertUseDeclaration": true,
  "intelephense.format.enable": true
}

Features

Autocompletion

Works the same as PhpStorm with Intelephense.

Type Hints

Hover over any property or method to see type information.

Go to Definition

• F12 to go to definition
• Ctrl+Click to jump to definition

PHPDoc for Better IDE Support

Document Array Types

class UserDTO extends SimpleDTO
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly int $id,
        public readonly string $name,

        /** @var string[] */
        public readonly array $tags,

        /** @var OrderDTO[] */
        public readonly array $orders,

        /** @var array<string, mixed> */
        public readonly array $metadata,
    ) {}
}

Document Return Types

class UserDTO extends SimpleDTO
{
    // ...

    /**
     * Get user's full name
     * @return string
     */
    public function getFullName(): string
    {
        return $this->firstName . ' ' . $this->lastName;
    }
}

Document Complex Types

class OrderDTO extends SimpleDTO
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly int $id,

        /** @var array<int, ProductDTO> */
        public readonly array $products,

        /** @var array{total: float, tax: float, shipping: float} */
        public readonly array $pricing,
    ) {}
}

PHPStan Integration

Installation

composer require --dev phpstan/phpstan

Configuration

Create phpstan.neon:

parameters:
    level: 9
    paths:
        - app
        - src

    # Enable strict rules
    checkMissingIterableValueType: true
    checkGenericClassInNonGenericObjectType: true

Run PHPStan

vendor/bin/phpstan analyse

PHPStan will validate:

• All properties are typed
• All methods have return types
• No undefined properties
• No type mismatches

Best Practices

1. Always Use Type Hints

// ✅ Good
public readonly string $name;

// ❌ Bad
public readonly $name;

2. Document Array Types

// ✅ Good
/** @var string[] */
public readonly array $tags;

// ❌ Bad
public readonly array $tags;

3. Use Readonly Properties

// ✅ Good
public readonly string $name;

// ❌ Bad
public string $name;

4. Use PHP 8.2+ Features

// ✅ Good - PHP 8.2+
public readonly string $name;

// ❌ Bad - Old style
/** @var string */
private $name;

Troubleshooting

IDE Not Recognizing Properties

Problem:

$dto->name // IDE shows "Property not found"

Solution:

1. Clear IDE cache (PhpStorm: File → Invalidate Caches)
2. Rebuild project index
3. Check PHP language level is 8.2+

Autocompletion Not Working

Problem: Autocompletion doesn’t show DTO properties.

Solution:

1. Make sure all properties are public readonly
2. Check IDE has indexed the project
3. Verify PHP version in IDE settings

Type Hints Not Showing

Problem: Hover doesn’t show type information.

Solution:

1. Install PHP Intelephense (VS Code)
2. Enable type hints in IDE settings
3. Add PHPDoc comments for complex types

See Also

• Creating DTOs - DTO creation guide
• TypeScript Generation - Generate TypeScript types
• Validation - Validation guide