value()

value() returns a value, or the result of calling it if it is a closure.

Syntaxvalue($maybeClosure);

The value() helper returns whatever you give it — unless it is a closure, in which case it calls the closure and returns the result. This is useful for "default that might be lazy" patterns.

Any extra arguments are passed to the closure.

Example

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When to use it

A configuration builder passes either a static default value or a closure that computes the default lazily to value(), keeping the call site uniform.
A factory method uses value() to resolve a setting that might be a plain string or a callable that queries the database only when needed.
A helper function accepts a mixed argument and wraps it with value() so callers can pass either a literal or a deferred computation.

More examples

value() resolves closures and scalars

value() unwraps a closure by calling it, or returns any other value unchanged — making it ideal for lazy-default patterns.

$a = value('hello');               // => 'hello'
$b = value(42);                    // => 42
$c = value(fn() => 1 + 1);        // => 2  (closure is called)
$d = value(null);                  // => null

Lazy default with value()

Wrapping the default in a closure and resolving with value() defers the config() lookup until it is actually needed.

function setting(string $key, mixed $default = null): mixed
{
    $stored = Setting::find($key)?->value;

    // Only call the closure if $stored is null
    return $stored ?? value($default);
}

$tz = setting('timezone', fn() => config('app.timezone'));
// The config() call happens only when no stored setting exists

Use with() for fluent pipelines

with() is the companion to value(): it passes an object into a closure and returns whatever the closure returns, useful for inline scoping.

$result = with(new QueryBuilder(), function ($builder) {
    return $builder
        ->select('id', 'name')
        ->from('users')
        ->where('active', 1)
        ->build();
});
// with() passes the value to the callback and returns the result

Discussion

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