Generate Iterative Collections Quickly with Collection::times()

Use Collection::times() to generate numeric-sequence collections or execute closures N times fluently without writing for loops.

When creating dummy datasets, generating pagination page numbers, or creating test fixtures, writing for ($i = 1; $i <= 10; $i++) loops creates boilerplate.

Collection::times() creates a collection by invoking a callback a given number of times.

Generating Range Collections

use Illuminate\Support\Collection;

// Generates: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
$numbers = Collection::times(5);

Transforming Items During Generation

Pass a closure to transform each increment step:

$months = Collection::times(12, function ($number) {
    return now()->startOfYear()->addMonths($number - 1)->format('F');
});

// Output: ['January', 'February', 'March', ..., 'December']

In Testing and Seeding

// Generate 10 dummy invoice line items
$items = Collection::times(10, fn ($i) => [
    'item_code' => "SKU-{$i}",
    'price'     => $i * 15,
]);

Summary

• Generates 1-indexed numeric collections fluently.
• Accepts transformation closures receiving the current iteration number.
• Clean alternative to range() wrapped in collect().