Result Flow

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Anti-Patterns ​

Avoid these pitfalls to keep pipelines predictable.

Ignoring Failure ​

Wrong

php
$value = $result->value(); // might be null
doSomething($value);

Prefer

php
$result->match(
    onSuccess: fn($v) => doSomething($v),
    onFailure: fn($e) => handleError($e),
);

Over-Broad Recovery ​

Wrong

php
->otherwise(fn() => Result::ok($default)) // hides all errors

Prefer

php
->otherwise(function ($error) use ($default) {
    if ($error instanceof NotFoundError) {
        return Result::ok($default);
    }
    return Result::fail($error); // propagate others
})

Returning Ambiguous Nulls ​

Wrong

php
->then(fn($data) => invalid($data) ? null : process($data));

Prefer

php
->then(function ($data) {
    if (invalid($data)) {
        return Result::fail('Invalid data');
    }
    return Result::ok(process($data));
});

Losing Metadata ​

Wrong

php
->then(fn($value, $meta) => Result::ok(transform($value))); // meta dropped

Prefer

php
->then(fn($value, $meta) => Result::ok(transform($value), $meta));

Mutating Meta In-Place ​

Wrong

php
->then(function ($value, $meta) {
    $meta['events'][] = 'processed'; // local only, not persisted
    return $value;
});

Prefer

php
->then(function ($value, $meta) {
    $meta['events'][] = 'processed';
    return Result::ok($value, $meta);
});

Wrong Handler Order ​

When using catchException() or matchException(), order handlers from most specific to least specific so the parent class does not shadow children.

php
->catchException([
    \InvalidArgumentException::class => fn($e) => Result::fail('validation'),
    \RuntimeException::class => fn($e) => Result::fail('runtime'),
    \Exception::class => fn($e) => Result::fail('generic'),
]);

Using combine() When You Need All Errors ​

combine() stops at the first failure. For validations where you want the full list, use combineAll() instead.