How does the “replace” property work with composer

So how does the "replace" property work with composer? I have read the composer document but still not understand it. Searching for more info hasn't answered my questions.

When I look at the composer.json file on Laravel/Framework on github. I can't see how replace will work. Can someone explain to me how this works? And what the variable "self.version" will equal to?

回答1:

The Composer documentation gives two basic examples. I'll try to explain:

Lists packages that are replaced by this package. This allows you to fork a package, publish it under a different name with its own version numbers, while packages requiring the original package continue to work with your fork because it replaces the original package.

Suppose your software uses original/library and other/package, which itself also requires original/library.

Now you think that original/library needs to integrate a feature, but the maintainers won't let your suggestion happen in their package. You decide to fork that library under the name better/library, and tag a new release.

Back to your software. Of course it should start using better/library, so you require that instead, but that other/package still requires the original/library - code duplication! How can you make that other package to use your better/library instead without also forking it and only changing the composer.json (you are still compatible to that original/library, so it should work)?

You add a replace key to your composer.json:

"replace": {
    "original/library":"1.*"
}

Now Composer knows that any package from your better/library is equally good as the original/library when it comes to resolving the dependencies of the other/package.

This is also useful for packages that contain sub-packages, for example the main symfony/symfony package contains all the Symfony Components which are also available as individual packages. If you require the main package it will automatically fulfill any requirement of one of the individual components, since it replaces them.

The same rules, a slightly different angle: Requiring components of a framework is a good approach for any other component that needs some feature. But if you require the full framework in your software, and another library, which subsequently also requires a component of that framework, the replace declaration of the framework allows Composer to not have to install that single component twice, because it is already included in the full framework.

回答2:

When you create your own package, you define in your composer.json what kind of packages does it provide which basically tells Composer that your package has it already installed, so no need to install it again.

If you use replace property, it tells Composer that your package wants to replace the original package with your own fork, so other packages don't need to install it.

For example if a/a package requires b/b and you tell to replace b/b, it won't be downloaded on Composer install/update.

This is explained in more details in here: How does the “replace” property work in Composer?