If you're using PhpStorm, PHPStan or Psalm, types can be defined in PHPDocs and these tools will do the type checking, among many other things.

/** @var Task[] $tasks */
private array $tasks;

In our codebase, we have the concept of collections. These are based upon a class called TypedArray which is based upon ArrayObject.

class ArrayObject extends \ArrayObject
{
    /**
     * Clone a collection by cloning all items.
     */
    public function __clone()
    {
        foreach ($this as $key => $value) {
            $this[$key] = is_object($value) ? clone $value : $value;
        }
    }

    /**
     * Inserting the provided element at the index. If index is negative, it will be calculated from the end of the Array Object
     *
     * @param int $index
     * @param mixed $element
     */
    public function insert(int $index, $element)
    {
        $data = $this->getArrayCopy();
        if ($index < 0) {
            $index = $this->count() + $index;
        }

        $data = array_merge(array_slice($data, 0, $index, true), [$element], array_slice($data, $index, null, true));
        $this->exchangeArray($data);
    }

    /**
     * Remove a portion of the array and optionally replace it with something else.
     *
     * @see array_splice()
     *
     * @param int $offset
     * @param int|null $length
     * @param null $replacement
     *
     * @return static
     */
    public function splice(int $offset, int $length = null, $replacement = null)
    {
        $data = $this->getArrayCopy();

        // A null $length AND a null $replacement is not the same as supplying null to the call.
        if (is_null($length) && is_null($replacement)) {
            $result = array_splice($data, $offset);
        } else {
            $result = array_splice($data, $offset, $length, $replacement);
        }
        $this->exchangeArray($data);

        return new static($result);
    }

    /**
     * Adding a new value at the beginning of the collection
     *
     * @param mixed $value
     *
     * @return int Returns the new number of elements in the Array
     */
    public function unshift($value): int
    {
        $data = $this->getArrayCopy();
        $result = array_unshift($data, $value);
        $this->exchangeArray($data);

        return $result;
    }

    /**
     * Extract a slice of the array.
     *
     * @see array_slice()
     *
     * @param int $offset
     * @param int|null $length
     * @param bool $preserveKeys
     *
     * @return static
     */
    public function slice(int $offset, int $length = null, bool $preserveKeys = false)
    {
        return new static(array_slice($this->getArrayCopy(), $offset, $length, $preserveKeys));
    }

    /**
     * Sort an array.
     *
     * @see sort()
     *
     * @param int $sortFlags
     *
     * @return bool
     */
    public function sort($sortFlags = SORT_REGULAR)
    {
        $data = $this->getArrayCopy();
        $result = sort($data, $sortFlags);
        $this->exchangeArray($data);

        return $result;
    }

    /**
     * Apply a user supplied function to every member of an array
     *
     * @see array_walk
     *
     * @param callable $callback
     * @param mixed|null $userData
     *
     * @return bool Returns true on success, otherwise false
     *
     * @see array_walk()
     */
    public function walk($callback, $userData = null)
    {
        $data = $this->getArrayCopy();
        $result = array_walk($data, $callback, $userData);
        $this->exchangeArray($data);

        return $result;
    }

    /**
     * Chunks the object into ArrayObject containing
     *
     * @param int $size
     * @param bool $preserveKeys
     *
     * @return ArrayObject
     */
    public function chunk(int $size, bool $preserveKeys = false): ArrayObject
    {
        $data = $this->getArrayCopy();
        $result = array_chunk($data, $size, $preserveKeys);

        return new ArrayObject($result);
    }

    /**
     * @see array_column
     *
     * @param mixed $columnKey
     *
     * @return array
     */
    public function column($columnKey): array
    {
        $data = $this->getArrayCopy();
        $result = array_column($data, $columnKey);

        return $result;
    }

    /**
     * @param callable $mapper Will be called as $mapper(mixed $item)
     *
     * @return ArrayObject A collection of the results of $mapper(mixed $item)
     */
    public function map(callable $mapper): ArrayObject
    {
        $data = $this->getArrayCopy();
        $result = array_map($mapper, $data);

        return new self($result);
    }

    /**
     * Applies the callback function $callable to each item in the collection.
     *
     * @param callable $callable
     */
    public function each(callable $callable)
    {
        foreach ($this as &$item) {
            $callable($item);
        }
        unset($item);
    }

    /**
     * Returns the item in the collection at $index.
     *
     * @param int $index
     *
     * @return mixed
     *
     * @throws InvalidArgumentException
     * @throws OutOfRangeException
     */
    public function at(int $index)
    {
        $this->validateIndex($index);

        return $this[$index];
    }

    /**
     * Validates a number to be used as an index
     *
     * @param int $index The number to be validated as an index
     *
     * @throws OutOfRangeException
     * @throws InvalidArgumentException
     */
    private function validateIndex(int $index)
    {
        $exists = $this->indexExists($index);

        if (!$exists) {
            throw new OutOfRangeException('Index out of bounds of collection');
        }
    }

    /**
     * Returns true if $index is within the collection's range and returns false
     * if it is not.
     *
     * @param int $index
     *
     * @return bool
     *
     * @throws InvalidArgumentException
     */
    public function indexExists(int $index)
    {
        if ($index < 0) {
            throw new InvalidArgumentException('Index must be a non-negative integer');
        }

        return $index < $this->count();
    }

    /**
     * Finding the first element in the Array, for which $callback returns true
     *
     * @param callable $callback
     *
     * @return mixed Element Found in the Array or null
     */
    public function find(callable $callback)
    {
        foreach ($this as $element) {
            if ($callback($element)) {
                return $element;
            }
        }

        return null;
    }

    /**
     * Filtering the array by retrieving only these elements for which callback returns true
     *
     * @param callable $callback
     * @param int $flag Use ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY to pass key as the only argument to $callback instead of value.
     *                  Use ARRAY_FILTER_USE_BOTH pass both value and key as arguments to $callback instead of value.
     *
     * @return static
     *
     * @see array_filter
     */
    public function filter(callable $callback, int $flag = 0)
    {
        $data = $this->getArrayCopy();
        $result = array_filter($data, $callback, $flag);

        return new static($result);
    }

    /**
     * Reset the array pointer to the first element and return the element.
     *
     * @return mixed
     *
     * @throws \OutOfBoundsException
     */
    public function first()
    {
        if ($this->count() === 0) {
            throw new \OutOfBoundsException('Cannot get first element of empty Collection');
        }

        return reset($this);
    }

    /**
     * Reset the array pointer to the last element and return the element.
     *
     * @return mixed
     *
     * @throws \OutOfBoundsException
     */
    public function last()
    {
        if ($this->count() === 0) {
            throw new \OutOfBoundsException('Cannot get last element of empty Collection');
        }

        return end($this);
    }

    /**
     * Apply a user supplied function to every member of an array
     *
     * @see array_reverse
     *
     * @param bool $preserveKeys
     *
     * @return static
     */
    public function reverse(bool $preserveKeys = false)
    {
        return new static(array_reverse($this->getArrayCopy(), $preserveKeys));
    }

    public function keys(): array
    {
        return array_keys($this->getArrayCopy());
    }

    /**
     * Use a user supplied callback to reduce the array to a single member and return it.
     *
     * @param callable $callback
     * @param mixed|null $initial
     *
     * @return mixed
     */
    public function reduce(callable $callback, $initial = null)
    {
        return array_reduce($this->getArrayCopy(), $callback, $initial);
    }
}

and

/**
 * Class TypedArray
 *
 * This is a typed array
 *
 * By enforcing the type, you can guarantee that the content is safe to simply iterate and call methods on.
 */
abstract class AbstractTypedArray extends ArrayObject
{
    use TypeValidator;

    /**
     * Define the class that will be used for all items in the array.
     * To be defined in each sub-class.
     */
    const ARRAY_TYPE = null;

    /**
     * Array Type
     *
     * Once set, this ArrayObject will only accept instances of that type.
     *
     * @var string $arrayType
     */
    private $arrayType = null;

    /**
     * Constructor
     *
     * Store the required array type prior to parental construction.
     *
     * @param mixed[] $input Any data to preset the array to.
     * @param int $flags The flags to control the behaviour of the ArrayObject.
     * @param string $iteratorClass Specify the class that will be used for iteration of the ArrayObject object. ArrayIterator is the default class used.
     *
     * @throws InvalidArgumentException
     */
    public function __construct($input = [], $flags = 0, $iteratorClass = ArrayIterator::class)
    {
        // ARRAY_TYPE must be defined.
        if (empty(static

Yes.

$array[] = new stdClass;
$array[] = new stdClass;

print_r($array);

Results in:

Array
(
    [0] => stdClass Object
        (
        )

    [1] => stdClass Object
        (
        )

)

You can implement json structure using JsonSerializable interface and use nested array/class in any way. Class is faster in get/set operations and easier to debug. With Array you need no declaration.

class Order implements \JsonSerializable{
    private $my_total;
    private $my_lineitems;

    public function getItems() { return $this->my_lineitems; }
    public function addItem(Product $p) { $this->my_lineitems[] = $p; }
    public function getTotal() { return $this->my_total; }

    public function jsonSerialize(){
        return [
            'total'=>$this->my_total,
            'products'=>$this->my_lineitems;
        ];
    }
}

class Product implements \JsonSerializable{
    private $name;
    private $price;

    public function jsonSerialize(){ 
        return [
            'name'=>$this->name, 
            'price'=>$this->price
        ];
    }
}

$order = new Order();
$order->addProduct(new Product('Product1', 15));
$order->addProduct(new Product('Product2', 35));
$order->addProduct(new Product('Product3', 42));
$json = json_encode(['order'=>$order, 'username'=>'Eughen']);
/*
json = {
    order: {
        total: 92, 
        products: [
            {
                name: 'Product1',
                price: 15
            }, 
            {
                name: 'Product2',
                price: 35
            },
            {
                name: 'Product3',
                price: 42
            }
        ]
    }, 
    username: 'Eughen'
}
*/