Avoid Maintaining Unused Classes in PHP

2023/07/21

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In the world of PHP development, it's not uncommon to come across codebases that contain classes that are no longer used. These unused classes can be a burden to maintain, upgrade, and test. But fear not, there are tools and techniques available to help you identify and remove these unnecessary classes.

One such tool is PHPStan, a static analysis tool that can detect unused private methods. Additionally, the author of the article has created a package to handle unused public methods. However, simply removing dead code may still leave behind classes that are never used but still need to be maintained.

To address this issue, the author suggests a three-step process to find and remove these leaking classes. First, run the static analysis tool on your codebase to identify classes that are not being used. This can help you get an estimate of how much code is actually dead weight.

Next, manually review the identified classes to ensure that they are indeed not being used. The author points out that there is a special case where a class may appear to be used because it is tested, but in reality, it is only used in tests. These classes can also be safely removed.

Finally, the author provides a package that can be used to automate the process of removing these leaking classes. The package is compatible with PHP 7.2+ and can be easily integrated into your CI/CD pipeline. By using this package, you can ensure that you never have to maintain leaking classes again.

In conclusion, maintaining unused classes can be a waste of time and resources. By using tools like PHPStan and following the suggested process, you can identify and remove these unnecessary classes, making your codebase leaner and easier to maintain. Happy coding!