.. _backstory:

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Why I Built InterMix
======================

I did not build InterMix as a large framework from the beginning. I built it because I kept running into a smaller, more practical problem: I wanted dependency injection in PHP to feel lightweight, flexible and actually pleasant to use.

Back in October 2020, I started with a small project called DI-Container. At that time, the goal was straightforward. I wanted a compact utility that could resolve constructors and callables cleanly, without unnecessary heaviness. It began as an experiment, but as I kept working on it, I found myself solving more than just container-related problems. Each improvement opened the door to another need, better invocation flow, more flexible resolution, cleaner abstractions and utilities that naturally belonged around the core idea.

That was the point where I realized I was no longer building just a DI container.

In May 2021, that earlier work evolved into InterMix. I wanted a better foundation, something that could grow without losing the original simplicity that made the first project useful. The new direction was not about making the project bigger for the sake of being bigger. It was about giving it the structure and freedom to become a toolkit I could genuinely rely on across real applications.

I built InterMix incrementally. There was no single moment where everything was fully designed in advance. The project grew through repeated iteration: building, using, refining, rethinking and improving. Over time, dependency injection remained the center, but the ecosystem around it expanded naturally into caching, macro-style extensibility, memoization, helper utilities, and safety-focused tools. Those additions were not random. They came from practical needs that kept appearing during development.

That is really the reason InterMix exists.

I wanted a toolkit that stayed lightweight but could still be powerful. I wanted something modular, reusable and grounded in real usage rather than unnecessary complexity. I wanted tools that worked well together, but could also stand on their own. Most of all, I wanted to build something that could mature over time without losing its original purpose.

InterMix is the result of that journey. What started as a small experiment in 2020 gradually became a broader and more stable PHP toolkit. I did not build it to chase size or trends. I built it to solve real problems in a way that felt clean, practical and sustainable, and I have continued refining it with that same mindset ever since.