Mathias Verraes

Casting Value Objects to strings

Three practical rules for implementing PHP's __toString() on Value Objects: avoid using it for presentation logic, always return a complete representation (not just a partial value), and return a parsable string that can be reconstructed back into the original Value Object. Illustrated with TwitterHandle, DateRange, and Distance examples, including PHPUnit tests.

•4m read time•From verraes.net
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Simple string castingRules for casting Value Objects to string1. Don’t use _toString() for presentation.2. Always return a complete representation of the Value Object.3. Return a parsable string