Add __toArray() method to objects that would be called on cast to array

Hi all, Looking at code of PHPUnit, I stumbled upon an inconsistent array conversion: ------ /** * @param ArrayAccess|array $other */ function evaluate($other) { // type cast $other as an array to allow //support in standard array functions. if ($other instanceof ArrayAccess) { $data = (array) $data; } $patched = array_replace_recursive($other, $this->subset); // ... } ----- This would work only for ArrayAccess implementations extending ArrayObject as shown by https://3v4l.org/ti4aY Looking at the manual http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.array.php#language.types.array.casting , it seems ArrayObject class does not comply to array casting because integer public properties could also be retrieved. Some tests showed that regular class always have string keys even when a `$key = 0; $this->{$key} = 'avalue'; is called. In this case, var_export((array)$object);` returns array('0' => 'avalue') (Notice the quote around key 0 - https://3v4l.org/6QW70) What do you think of adding an optional __toArray() method to classes which would default to current behavior but would allow specifying behavior. The way of internal __toString() method and could explain inconsistency of the ArrayObject class? Regards, Benoît Burnichon