Say we use a DI container directly, i.e. via functions like get() or make(), how do we achieve proper IDE support? For example I create a class instance the usual way

$server = $this->container->get(Server::class);

and I want to know what methods my Server class provides

$server->???

I could use docblocks

/** @var Server $server */
$server = $this->container->get(Server::class);

This works fine in many IDE like PhpStorm:

however the docblock is somehow annoying to me. The IDE *should* really know what class instance the variable $server is, since everything it needs to know is in the class name constant I provided as parameter for the get() function.

There might be a way using the hardly known .phpstorm.meta.php file for PhpStorm, but that one is currently some sort of under construction – at least I couldn’t get it working properly. Hopefully the PhpStorm guys will extend the documentation soon!

Once again, the PHP community provides the solution: the small but pretty cool PhpStorm PHP-DI plugin does exactly what we need! Now PhpStorm knows that $server is an instance of the Server class without me needing to do any further work:

$server = $this
->container
->get('CarstenWindler\ApiGuy\Server');

But really, you shouldn’t do that. Please. Better just forget what I said. Forget it. Begone!

Awesome! Although actually written for the PHP-DI container, it also supports container-interop and even that crapp… I mean lovely but omnipresent Laravel App Facade sort of jun… container… thing.