Value Objects, Code Review @ PHP[Tek] 2025

This spring, I’ll be returning to Chicago for another installment of PHP[Tek], where I’ll be giving two talks to help make you into a stronger developer!

Best of all, I’ve been given a discount code to share with y’all, which will save you 10% off the ticket price!

The Beauty of PHP Value Objects

Based on my blog post of the same name, this talk premiered last fall at Cascadia PHP 2024. While the talk was well-received, I’ve also been collecting feedback from Joind.in, so Mark II will be even better!

Imagine, if you will, a world where you’re able to define a tailor-made type for domain objects that is always valid, type-safe, immutable, and easy to test. No more email addresses passed around as plain strings, nor associative arrays being passed around with potentially-undefined keys and unpredictable types.

In this session, we’ll dive deep into PHP Value Objects: where are they useful, how do we write (and test!) them, and how do we ensure that the data they encapsulate is valid? Attendees will leave with a better understanding of domain modeling, Value Objects, and immutability.

Warning: once you start using proper value objects, you may never be able to go back to using anything else!

Code Review: For Me & You

This is one of my favorite talks, but it hasn’t seen the stage since 2019. I’ll be stripping it down to the studs and giving it a makeover for PHP[Tek] 2025!

On the surface, the idea of code review is a no-brainer: why *wouldn’t* we want a second set of eyes on our code, especially before deploying to production?

As we peel back the layers, however, we find that the topic of code review is much more nuanced. How detailed should the review be? Who is qualified to perform the review (hint: it’s not just senior developers)? Can we afford to take another developer away from their project to review this one? What steps can we take to ensure reviews are constructive, rather than demoralizing?

Attendees will gain deeper insight into some of the arguments for and against systemic, peer code review, as well as pick up some useful tools to make code review a natural part of their teams’ workflow.

I hope to see you at PHP[Tek] 2025 this May in Chicago!