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Naming Standards

Inside the Dotkernel ecosystem, we strictly follow the following standards to make sure that we provide clean and easy-to-follow code:

  • PSR-4: the autoloading standard—for easy autoloading of classes.
  • PSR-12: the extended coding style—for suggestive file names.

Collections

Can only be created in API projects.

These are files that are used to contain a set of resources of the same type.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/Collection
  • pattern: Name + Collection
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/Collection/ExampleCollection.php

Commands

These are CLI scripts that are used to perform a specific task.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/Command
  • pattern: Name + Command
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/Command/ExampleCommand.php

Core-compatible projects MAY also have Core Commands:

  • location: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/Command
  • pattern: Name + Command
  • example: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/Command/ExampleCommand.php

ConfigProvider

These are configuration classes where aliases, delegators, factories and template paths are registered.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src
  • pattern: ConfigProvider
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/ConfigProvider.php

Core-compatible projects also have a Core ConfigProvider:

  • location: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src
  • pattern: ConfigProvider
  • example: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/ConfigProvider.php

When this file exists, Doctrine entity configurations are stored here. Else, those too are stored in src/<ModuleName>/src/ConfigProvider.php.

Entities

These are classes that represent a single resource and are used to store and retrieve data in a database.

  • location: src/Core/src/ModuleName/Entity
  • pattern: Name
  • example: src/Core/src/ModuleName/Entity/Example.php

Legacy projects

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/Entity
  • pattern: Name
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/Entity/Example.php

Factories

These are classes responsible for instantiating specific objects.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/Factory
  • pattern: Name + Factory
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/Factory/ExampleFactory.php

Core-compatible projects MAY also have Core Factories:

  • location: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/Factory
  • pattern: Name + Factory
  • example: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/Factory/ExampleFactory.php

Fixtures

These are classes used to populate the database with test data.

  • location: src/Core/src/App/src/Fixture
  • pattern: Name + Loader
  • example: src/Core/src/App/src/Fixture/ExampleLoader.php

Forms

Cannot be created in API projects.

These are objectual representations of an HTML form.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/Form
  • pattern: Name + Form
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/Form/ExampleForm.php

Handlers

These are classes responsible for handling a specific HTTP request.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/Handler/<ResourceName>
  • pattern: Verb + Name + Action + Handler
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/Handler/<ResourceName>Post<ResourceName>CreateHandler.php

API projects

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/Handler/<ResourceName>
  • pattern:
    • resources: Verb + Name + ResourceHandler
    • collections: Verb + Name + CollectionHandler
  • example:
    • resources: src/<ModuleName>/src/Handler/<ResourceName>/Create<ResourceName>ResourceHandler.php
    • collections: src/<ModuleName>/src/Handler/<ResourceName>/Get<ResourceName>CollectionHandler.php

Inputs

These are objectual representations of an HTML form input.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/InputFilter/Input
  • pattern: Name + Input
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/InputFilter/Input/ExampleInput.php

Core-compatible projects MAY also have Core Inputs:

  • location: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/InputFilter/Input
  • pattern: Name + Input
  • example: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/InputFilter/Input/ExampleInput.php

InputFilters

These are classes that are used to validate and filter form data.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/InputFilter
  • pattern: Name + InputFilter
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/InputFilter/ExampleInputFilter.php

Core-compatible projects MAY also have Core InputFilters:

  • location: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/InputFilter
  • pattern: Name + InputFilter
  • example: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/InputFilter/ExampleInputFilter.php

Middleware

These are classes that can be used to perform actions before and after a request has been handled.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/Middleware
  • pattern: Name + Middleware
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/Middleware/ExampleMiddleware.php

Core-compatible projects MAY also have Core Middleware:

  • location: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/Middleware
  • pattern: Name + Middleware
  • example: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/Middleware/ExampleMiddleware.php

Migrations

These are classes used to modify the database schema.

  • location: src/Core/src/App/src/Migration
  • pattern: Version + Timestamp
  • example: src/Core/src/App/src/Migration/Version20250407142911.php

OpenApi

Can only be created in API projects.

These are configuration classes where OpenApi specifications are registered.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src
  • pattern: OpenApi
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/OpenApi.php

Repositories

These are classes that represent an intermediary layer between the database and the entities.

  • location: src/Core/src/ModuleName/Repository
  • pattern: Name + Repository
  • example: src/Core/src/ModuleName/Repository/ExampleRepository.php

Legacy projects

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/Repository
  • pattern: Name + Repository
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/Repository/ExampleRepository.php

RoutesDelegator

These are configuration classes where HTTP request routes are registered.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src
  • pattern: RoutesDelegator
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/RoutesDelegator.php

Services

These are classes that contain task-specific methods to be reused across the application.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/Service
  • pattern: Name + Service
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/Service/ExampleService.php

Core-compatible projects MAY also have Core Services:

  • location: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/Service
  • pattern: Name + Service
  • example: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/Service/ExampleService.php

ServiceInterfaces

These are interfaces that serve as contracts for services.

  • location: src/<ModuleName>/src/ServiceInterface
  • pattern: Name + ServiceInterface
  • example: src/<ModuleName>/src/Service/ExampleServiceInterface.php

Core-compatible projects MAY also have Core ServiceInterfaces:

  • location: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/Service
  • pattern: Name + Service
  • example: src/Core/src/<ModuleName>/src/Service/ExampleServiceInterface.php