Comparison — equals() & diff()

equals()

Returns true if both DTOs produce the same toArray() output:

$a = UserData::from(['name' => 'Alice', 'email' => 'alice@example.com']);
$b = UserData::from(['name' => 'Alice', 'email' => 'alice@example.com']);
$c = UserData::from(['name' => 'Bob',   'email' => 'bob@example.com']);

$a->equals($b); // true
$a->equals($c); // false
$a->equals($a); // true (reflexive)

Comparison is value-based, not reference-based:

$a === $b;      // false — different objects
$a->equals($b); // true  — same data

Objects of different classes are never equal, even if their toArray() output happens to match:

$user  = UserData::from(['name' => 'Alice']);
$admin = AdminData::from(['name' => 'Alice']);

$user->equals($admin); // false — different classes

diff()

Returns an array of fields that differ between two DTOs. Each entry is [this_value, other_value]:

$a = UserData::from(['name' => 'Alice', 'email' => 'alice@example.com']);
$b = UserData::from(['name' => 'Bob',   'email' => 'alice@example.com', 'phone' => '123']);

$a->diff($b);
// [
//   'name'  => ['Alice', 'Bob'],
//   'phone' => [null, '123'],
// ]

An empty array means the objects are equal:

$a->diff($b) === []; // equivalent to $a->equals($b)

Diff on Casted Fields

diff() compares serialized values (output of toArray()), so casts are applied before comparison:

$a = EventData::from(['name' => 'Conf', 'startsAt' => '2024-01-01']);
$b = EventData::from(['name' => 'Conf', 'startsAt' => '2025-06-15']);

$a->diff($b);
// ['startsAt' => ['2024-01-01', '2025-06-15']]

Encrypted and Hidden Fields

EncryptedCast produces a fresh ciphertext on every toArray(), so equals() and diff() compare those fields by their decrypted value: two objects holding the same card number are equal. diff() still reports a changed encrypted field with its ciphertexts, never the plaintext. The Eloquent cast (IsEloquentCastable) uses the same comparison, so saving a model whose data object didn't change doesn't rewrite the column.

#[Hidden] fields are not part of toArray() and are ignored by both methods.

Use Cases

// Audit log: record what changed
$before = UserData::fromModel($user);
$user->update($attributes);
$after = UserData::fromModel($user->fresh());

$changes = $before->diff($after);
AuditLog::record($user->id, $changes);

// Guard against no-op updates
if ($existing->equals($incoming)) {
    return; // nothing changed
}
$repository->save($incoming);