Check whether array is associative in a class

Question

I have a class where I need to do certain checks on an array, such as checking whether it is associative or indexed. I know there is no native function in PHP that does this, so I could use the example below.

function isAssoc($arr)
{
    return array_keys($arr) !== range(0, count($arr) - 1);
}

Example taken from here.

But since I’m working with object orientation and I’d like to do things the right way, I know that:

1. It’s not nice to create a list of functions in a global archive "do it all".
2. The class where I am running the check should not know how to do the check, just check, so a clousure wouldn’t be a good idea either.
3. Since I want my class to be simpler to use I don’t see the point of injecting a dependency into a class that treats arrays in the method signature, I just wanted to check that array, as a native function does.

In short, I wanted to implement something like the code below, but in the right way:

public function __construct($name, $content = null, $attributes= null)  
{
    if(is_assoc($content){
        // 
    }
    else{
       //
    }
}

Answer 1

I thought here of some ways to solve this problem.

The first is to use a global function. Not everything in your application needs to be object-oriented or there is only one right way to do things. In that case I see no problem that it’s a global function if it really makes sense.

Another way is to create one trait and insert her into your class, something like that:

trait ArrayUtils 
{
    function isAssoc(array $arr)
    {
        return array_keys($arr) !== range(0, count($arr) - 1);
    }
}

class MyClass 
{
    use ArrayUtils;

    public function __construct($name, array $content = [], $attributes= null)  
    {
        if($this->is_assoc($content){

        } else {

        }
    }
}

If possible I find it interesting to ensure that the argument sent is an array employing the hinting type, so it is possible to avoid some extra checks in your methods.