Use Match Expressions for Clean API Enum Mapping

Mapping between your internal enums and an external API’s codes? PHP 8’s match() expression was built for this.

The Old Way

// ❌ Verbose and error-prone
function mapStatus(string $apiCode): string {
    if ($apiCode === 'ACT') return 'active';
    if ($apiCode === 'INA') return 'inactive';
    if ($apiCode === 'PND') return 'pending';
    if ($apiCode === 'CAN') return 'cancelled';
    throw new \InvalidArgumentException("Unknown code: $apiCode");
}

The Clean Way

// ✅ Exhaustive, readable, safe
function mapStatus(string $apiCode): string {
    return match($apiCode) {
        'ACT' => 'active',
        'INA' => 'inactive',
        'PND' => 'pending',
        'CAN' => 'cancelled',
        default => throw new \InvalidArgumentException(
            "Unknown status code: $apiCode"
        ),
    };
}

Why match() Is Better

• Strict comparison — no type juggling surprises
• Expression, not statement — can assign directly to a variable
• Exhaustive default — forces you to handle unknown values
• Readable — the mapping is a clean lookup table

Takeaway

Use match() for any code-to-value mapping. It’s cleaner than if/else chains, safer than arrays (because of the default throw), and reads like a lookup table.