Generate Collections on the Fly with Laravel's times Method

Need to create a collection with calculated values? Laravel's times method lets you generate collections dynamically!

Basic Usage

Here's the simplest way to use times:

$collection = Collection::times(10, function (int $number) {
    return $number * 9;
});
// [9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, 81, 90]

Real-World Example

Here's how you might use it in a date slot generator:

class AppointmentSlotGenerator
{
    public function generateDailySlots(
        string $startTime = '09:00',
        int $slotCount = 8,
        int $intervalMinutes = 60
    ) {
        return Collection::times($slotCount, function (int $index) use ($startTime, $intervalMinutes) {
            $time = Carbon::parse($startTime)
                ->addMinutes(($index) * $intervalMinutes);
            
            return [
                'slot_id' => $index + 1,
                'start_time' => $time->format('H:i'),
                'end_time' => $time->addMinutes($intervalMinutes)->format('H:i'),
                'is_available' => true
            ];
        });
    }
}

// Usage
$generator = new AppointmentSlotGenerator();
$slots = $generator->generateDailySlots('10:00', 6, 30);

$slots->each(function ($slot) {
    $this->info("Slot {$slot['slot_id']}: {$slot['start_time']} - {$slot['end_time']}");
});

The times method is perfect for generating sequences, creating test data, or any scenario where you need calculated values in a collection.

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