jLive (JlivePHP)

Modern PHP-like helper library for Node.js v24+ (ES2025), shipped as ESM with TypeScript typings.

This project brings a growing subset of PHP functions to JavaScript with:

• PHP-like signatures (parameters + defaults) whenever practical
• Strict runtime validation (throws on argument mismatch)
• Namespaced modules: PHP.String.*, PHP.Array.*, etc.
• Legacy flat export: JlivePHP.*
• Optional chainable API with auto-generated chain methods: chain(value).trim().strtoupper().value()

Requirements

• Node.js v24+
• Package is ESM-only ("type": "module")

Install

npm i jlive

Dependencies

Runtime dependencies used by this library:

• bcryptjs ^2.4.3 — used for PHP-compatible bcrypt (password_hash/verify)

Built-in Node modules used (no install needed): node:crypto, node:fs, node:path, node:os, node:dns, etc.

Quick start

Namespaced (recommended)

import { PHP } from "jlive";

console.log(PHP.String.ucwords("hello world"));     // Hello World
console.log(PHP.Array.array_sum([1, 2, 3]));        // 6
console.log(PHP.Math.intdiv(10, 3));                // 3

Legacy flat export

import { JlivePHP } from "jlive";

console.log(JlivePHP.trim("  hi  "));
console.log(JlivePHP.array_merge([1,2], [3,4]));

Chaining

import { chain } from "jlive";

const out = chain("  hello world  ")
  .trim()
  .str_replace("world", "jLive")
  .strtoupper()
  .value();

console.log(out); // HELLO JLIVE

Notes on compatibility

JS arrays vs associative arrays (objects)

Most Array functions accept either:

• JavaScript arrays ([]) for numeric-indexed PHP arrays
• Plain objects ({}) for associative PHP arrays

When a function must “return an array”, it returns:

• a JS array when the result is list-like
• a plain object when the result is associative

foreach

PHP has foreach, but JavaScript treats foreach as an awkward identifier in some contexts. This library exposes:

• PHP.Array.foreach_() (safe name)
• JlivePHP.foreach() (alias added for PHP naming)

Async functions

Some Network functions are async because Node APIs are async (DNS / fetch):

• gethostbyname(), gethostbynamel(), get_headers() return Promise.

API Reference (by module)

Tip: all public functions include JSDoc and (when applicable) a @see link to the matching PHP manual page.

Variables

• boolval, empty, floatval, gettype, intval, isFunction, is_array, is_bool, is_float, is_int, is_null, is_numeric, is_object, is_scalar, is_string, isset, print_r, settype, strval, var_dump

Math

• abs, acos, acosh, asin, asinh, atan, atan2, atanh, base_convert, bin2hex, bindec, ceil, cos, cosh, decbin, dechex, deg2rad, exp, expm1, floor, fmod, hexdec, hypot, intdiv, is_finite, is_infinite, is_nan, lcg_value, log, log10, log1p, max, min, mt_getrandmax, mt_rand, mt_srand, pi, pow, rad2deg, rand, round, sin, sinh, sqrt, tan, tanh

String

• addcslashes, addslashes, base64_decode, base64_encode, chr, chunk_split, count_chars, explode, hex2bin, html_entity_decode, htmlentities, htmlspecialchars, htmlspecialchars_decode, implode, lcfirst, levenshtein, ltrim, nl2br, number_format, ord, pack, parse_str, printf, quotemeta, rawurldecode, rawurlencode, rtrim, similar_text, soundex, sprintf, str_contains, str_ends_with, str_getcsv, str_ireplace, str_pad, str_repeat, str_replace, str_rot13, str_shuffle, str_split, str_starts_with, str_word_count, strcasecmp, strcmp, strcspn, strip_tags, stripcslashes, stripos, stripslashes, stristr, strlen, strnatcasecmp, strnatcmp, strncasecmp, strncmp, strpbrk, strpos, strrchr, strrev, strripos, strrpos, strspn, strstr, strtok, strtolower, strtoupper, strtr, substr, substr_compare, substr_count, substr_replace, trim, trimAll, ucfirst, ucwords, unpack, urldecode, urlencode, vprintf, vsprintf, wordwrap

Array

• array_change_key_case, array_chunk, array_column, array_combine, array_count_values, array_diff, array_diff_assoc, array_diff_key, array_diff_uassoc, array_diff_ukey, array_fill, array_fill_keys, array_filter, array_flip, array_intersect, array_intersect_assoc, array_intersect_key, array_intersect_uassoc, array_intersect_ufunc, array_intersect_ukey, array_is_list, array_key_exists, array_key_first, array_key_last, array_keys, array_map, array_merge, array_merge_recursive, array_multisort, array_pad, array_pop, array_product, array_push, array_rand, array_reduce, array_replace, array_replace_recursive, array_reverse, array_search, array_shift, array_slice, array_splice, array_sum, array_udiff, array_udiff_assoc, array_udiff_uassoc, array_uintersect, array_uintersect_assoc, array_uintersect_uassoc, array_unique, array_unshift, array_values, array_walk, array_walk_recursive, arsort, asort, asort_assoc, compact, count, current, end, foreach_, in_array, key, krsort, ksort, natcasesort, natsort, next, prev, range, reset, rsort, shuffle, sort, uasort, uksort, usort

File

• basename, copy, dirname, fclose, file_exists, file_get_contents, file_put_contents, filesize, fopen, fread, fstat, fwrite, glob, is_dir, is_file, is_link, mkdir, pathinfo, realpath, rename, rmdir, scandir, unlink

Date & Time

• checkdate, date, date_default_timezone_get, date_default_timezone_set, date_format, date_parse, date_parse_from_format, getdate, gmdate, microtime, mktime, strtotime, time, timezone_identifiers_list

DateTime (OOP)

• date_add, date_create, date_diff, date_interval_create_from_date_string, date_sub, DateTime, DateTimeZone, DateInterval

JSON

• json_decode, json_encode

Crypto / Password

• generate, hash, md5, password_get_info, password_hash, password_needs_rehash, password_verify, sha1, sha256

Constants: PASSWORD_ARGON2I, PASSWORD_ARGON2ID, PASSWORD_BCRYPT, PASSWORD_DEFAULT

PCRE / preg_*

• preg_grep, preg_last_error, preg_last_error_msg, preg_match, preg_match_all, preg_quote, preg_replace, preg_split

Serialize

• serialize, unserialize

Locale

• _get_current_locale, setlocale, strcasecmp_locale, strcoll

Network

• filter_var, gethostname, http_build_query, inet_ntop, inet_pton, ip2long, long2ip, parse_url

Cookie

• setcookie

Session

• session_cache_expire, session_cache_limiter, session_get, session_get_cookie_params, session_id, session_name, session_save_path, session_set, session_set_cookie_params, session_set_save_handler, session_status

TypeScript

This package includes index.d.ts (and may include generated chain typings depending on your build).

import { PHP, chain } from "jlive";

const s: string = PHP.String.strtoupper("abc");
const n: number = PHP.Math.intdiv(7, 2);

const chained = chain("  hi ").trim().strtoupper().value();

Contributing / extending

The source is organized by domain under src/php/:

• variables.js, math.js, string.js, array.js, file.js, date.js, datetime.js, json.js, crypto.js, preg.js, serialize.js, locale.js, network.js, cookie.js, session.js

Adding new functions

When adding new functions:

1. Keep PHP parameter order + defaults.
2. Add runtime validation (throw on mismatch).
3. Add English JSDoc with a PHP manual @see link.
4. Add tests in test/run-tests.mjs.

Chaining: auto-generation and argument injection

Chaining is implemented in src/chain.js and controlled by src/chain.config.js.

Auto-chain generation scans module exports and creates methods on Chain.prototype. Most functions can use a simple rule:

• defaultInject = "first": call as fn(currentValue, ...args)
• defaultInject = "last": call as fn(...args, currentValue)

Why some functions need special handling

Some PHP functions place the “subject” (the value you want to chain) in a different argument position:

• str_replace($search, $replace, $subject) → subject is arg2
• implode($glue, $pieces) → pieces is arg1
• explode($separator, $string, $limit?) → string is arg1
• date($format, $timestamp) → timestamp is arg1
• preg_match($pattern, $subject, ...) → subject is arg1
• preg_replace($pattern, $replacement, $subject, ...) → subject is arg2

To support this, chain.config.js provides CHAIN_INJECTION, a small mapping for the “weird signatures” only:

export const CHAIN_INJECTION = {
  str_replace: { inject: 2 },
  implode: { inject: 1, normalizeArgs: (args) => (args.length === 0 ? [""] : args) },
  explode: { inject: 1 },
  date: { inject: 1 },
  preg_match: { inject: 1 }
};

Rules:

• inject: 0 → insert current value at beginning
• inject: 1 → insert as second argument
• inject: 2 → insert as third argument
• inject: -1 → append (last argument)

Optional:

• normalizeArgs(args) can adjust arguments for convenience (example: default glue for implode()).

TypeScript typings for chain auto-methods (optional)

If your project includes auto-generated chain typings, generate them from the same config:

node scripts/generate-chain-types.mjs

This produces src/chain.generated.d.ts so TS autocomplete matches the runtime chain surface.

License

MIT