Rethinking Event-Driven Programming: A Bidirectional Observer Pattern in PHP

2025-09-01
Rethinking Event-Driven Programming: A Bidirectional Observer Pattern in PHP

Traditional observer patterns are observer-centric: events trigger passive reactions. This PHP Observer package shifts the perspective to the emitter. Emitters dispatch signals (events, plans, inquiries, commands), and observers can return counter-signals, creating a bidirectional dialogue. This allows for dynamic handling of complex workflows, such as canceling orders based on inventory or dynamically configuring libraries. The package offers seven signal types, robust error handling, and observability features, making it ideal for building responsive, emitter-driven applications.