Laravel Best Practices

Introduction

Laravel is a widely used open-source PHP web application framework that provides developers with a rich set of tools and features for building scalable and maintainable web applications. In this post, we will explore some of the best Laravel practices that developers should follow to ensure that their Laravel-based projects are robust, efficient, and secure.

Contents

Single responsibility principle
Fat models, skinny controllers

Validation

Business logic should be in service class

Don't repeat yourself (DRY)

Prefer to use Eloquent overusing Query Builder and raw SQL queries. Prefer collections over arrays

Mass assignment

Do not execute queries in Blade templates and use eager loading (N + 1 problem)

Chunk data for data-heavy tasks

Comment your code, but prefer descriptive method and variable names over comments

Do not put JS and CSS in Blade templates and do not put any HTML in PHP classes

Use config and language files, constants instead of text in the code

Use standard Laravel tools accepted by community

Follow Laravel naming conventions

Use shorter and more readable syntax where possible

Use IoC container or facades instead of new Class

Do not get data from the .env file directly

Store dates in the standard format. Use accessors and mutators to modify date format

Other good practices

Single responsibility principle

A class and a method should have only one responsibility.

Bad:

public function getFullNameAttribute(): string
{
    if (auth()->user() && auth()->user()->hasRole('client') && auth()->user()->isVerified()) {
        return 'Mr. ' . $this->first_name . ' ' . $this->middle_name . ' ' . $this->last_name;
    } else {
        return $this->first_name[0] . '. ' . $this->last_name;
    }
}

Good:

public function getFullNameAttribute(): string
{
    return $this->isVerifiedClient() ? $this->getFullNameLong() : $this->getFullNameShort();
}

public function isVerifiedClient(): bool
{
    return auth()->user() && auth()->user()->hasRole('client') && auth()->user()->isVerified();
}

public function getFullNameLong(): string
{
    return 'Mr. ' . $this->first_name . ' ' . $this->middle_name . ' ' . $this->last_name;
}

public function getFullNameShort(): string
{
    return $this->first_name[0] . '. ' . $this->last_name;
}

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Fat models, skinny controllers

Put all DB related logic into Eloquent models.

Bad:

public function index()
{
    $clients = Client::verified()
        ->with(['orders' => function ($q) {
            $q->where('created_at', '>', Carbon::today()->subWeek());
        }])
        ->get();

    return view('index', ['clients' => $clients]);
}

Good:

public function index()
{
    return view('index', ['clients' => $this->client->getWithNewOrders()]);
}

class Client extends Model
{
    public function getWithNewOrders(): Collection
    {
        return $this->verified()
            ->with(['orders' => function ($q) {
                $q->where('created_at', '>', Carbon::today()->subWeek());
            }])
            ->get();
    }
}

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Validation

Move validation from controllers to Request classes.

Bad:

public function store(Request $request)
{
    $request->validate([
        'title' => 'required|unique:posts|max:255',
        'body' => 'required',
        'publish_at' => 'nullable|date',
    ]);

    ...
}

Good:

public function store(PostRequest $request)
{
    ...
}

class PostRequest extends Request
{
    public function rules(): array
    {
        return [
            'title' => 'required|unique:posts|max:255',
            'body' => 'required',
            'publish_at' => 'nullable|date',
        ];
    }
}

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Business logic should be in service class

A controller must have only one responsibility, so move business logic from controllers to service classes.

Bad:

public function store(Request $request)
{
    if ($request->hasFile('image')) {
        $request->file('image')->move(public_path('images') . 'temp');
    }

    ...
}

Good:

public function store(Request $request)
{
    $this->articleService->handleUploadedImage($request->file('image'));

    ...
}

class ArticleService
{
    public function handleUploadedImage($image): void
    {
        if (!is_null($image)) {
            $image->move(public_path('images') . 'temp');
        }
    }
}

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Don't repeat yourself (DRY)

Reuse code when you can. SRP is helping you to avoid duplication. Also, reuse Blade templates, use Eloquent scopes etc.

Bad:

public function getActive()
{
    return $this->where('verified', 1)->whereNotNull('deleted_at')->get();
}

public function getArticles()
{
    return $this->whereHas('user', function ($q) {
            $q->where('verified', 1)->whereNotNull('deleted_at');
        })->get();
}

Good:

public function scopeActive($q)
{
    return $q->where('verified', true)->whereNotNull('deleted_at');
}

public function getActive(): Collection
{
    return $this->active()->get();
}

public function getArticles(): Collection
{
    return $this->whereHas('user', function ($q) {
            $q->active();
        })->get();
}

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Prefer to use Eloquent over using Query Builder and raw SQL queries. Prefer collections over arrays

Eloquent allows you to write readable and maintainable code. Also, Eloquent has great built-in tools like soft deletes, events, scopes etc.

Bad:

SELECT *
FROM `articles`
WHERE EXISTS (SELECT *
              FROM `users`
              WHERE `articles`.`user_id` = `users`.`id`
              AND EXISTS (SELECT *
                          FROM `profiles`
                          WHERE `profiles`.`user_id` = `users`.`id`) 
              AND `users`.`deleted_at` IS NULL)
AND `verified` = '1'
AND `active` = '1'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC

Good:

Article::has('user.profile')->verified()->latest()->get();

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Mass assignment

Bad:

$article = new Article;
$article->title = $request->title;
$article->content = $request->content;
$article->verified = $request->verified;

// Add category to article
$article->category_id = $category->id;
$article->save();

Good:

$category->article()->create($request->validated());

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Do not execute queries in Blade templates and use eager loading (N + 1 problem)

Bad (for 100 users, 101 DB queries will be executed):

@foreach (User::all() as $user)
    {{ $user->profile->name }}
@endforeach

Good (for 100 users, 2 DB queries will be executed):

$users = User::with('profile')->get();

@foreach ($users as $user)
    {{ $user->profile->name }}
@endforeach

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Chunk data for data-heavy tasks

Bad:

$users = $this->get();

foreach ($users as $user) {
    ...
}

Good:

$this->chunk(500, function ($users) {
    foreach ($users as $user) {
        ...
    }
});

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Prefer descriptive method and variable names over comments

Bad:

// Determine if there are any joins
if (count((array) $builder->getQuery()->joins) > 0)

Good:

if ($this->hasJoins())

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Do not put JS and CSS in Blade templates and do not put any HTML in PHP classes

Bad:

let article = `{{ json_encode($article) }}`;

Better:

<input id="article" type="hidden" value='@json($article)'>

Or

<button class="js-fav-article" data-article='@json($article)'>{{ $article->name }}<button>

In a Javascript file:

let article = $('#article').val();

The best way is to use specialized PHP to JS package to transfer the data.

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Use config and language files, constants instead of text in the code

Bad:

public function isNormal(): bool
{
    return $article->type === 'normal';
}

return back()->with('message', 'Your article has been added!');

Good:

public function isNormal()
{
    return $article->type === Article::TYPE_NORMAL;
}

return back()->with('message', __('app.article_added'));

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Use standard Laravel tools accepted by community

Prefer to use built-in Laravel functionality and community packages instead of using 3rd party packages and tools. Any developer who will work with your app in the future will need to learn new tools. Also, chances to get help from the Laravel community are significantly lower when you're using a 3rd party package or tool. Do not make your client pay for that.

Task	Standard tools	3rd party tools
Authorization	Policies	Entrust, Sentinel and other packages
Compiling assets	Laravel Mix, Vite	Grunt, Gulp, 3rd party packages
Development Environment	Laravel Sail, Homestead	Docker
Deployment	Laravel Forge	Deployer and other solutions
Unit testing	PHPUnit, Mockery	Phpspec, Pest
Browser testing	Laravel Dusk	Codeception
DB	Eloquent	SQL, Doctrine
Templates	Blade	Twig
Working with data	Laravel collections	Arrays
Form validation	Request classes	3rd party packages, validation in controller
Authentication	Built-in	3rd party packages, your own solution
API authentication	Laravel Passport, Laravel Sanctum	3rd party JWT and OAuth packages
Creating API	Built-in	Dingo API and similar packages
Working with DB structure	Migrations	Working with DB structure directly
Localization	Built-in	3rd party packages
Realtime user interfaces	Laravel Echo, Pusher	3rd party packages and working with WebSockets directly
Generating testing data	Seeder classes, Model Factories, Faker	Creating testing data manually
Task scheduling	Laravel Task Scheduler	Scripts and 3rd party packages
DB	MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, SQL Server	MongoDB

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Follow Laravel naming conventions

Follow PSR standards.

Also, follow naming conventions accepted by Laravel community:

What	How	Good	Bad
Controller	singular	ArticleController	ArticlesController
Route	plural	articles/1	article/1
Route name	snake_case with dot notation	users.show_active	users.show-active, show-active-users
Model	singular	User	Users
hasOne or belongsTo relationship	singular	articleComment	articleComments, article_comment
All other relationships	plural	articleComments	articleComment, article_comments
Table	plural	article_comments	article_comment, articleComments
Pivot table	singular model names in alphabetical order	article_user	user_article, articles_users
Table column	snake_case without model name	meta_title	MetaTitle; article_meta_title
Model property	snake_case	$model->created_at	$model->createdAt
Foreign key	singular model name with _id suffix	article_id	ArticleId, id_article, articles_id
Primary key	-	id	custom_id
Migration	-	2017_01_01_000000_create_articles_table	2017_01_01_000000_articles
Method	camelCase	getAll	get_all
Method in resource controller	table	store	saveArticle
Method in test class	camelCase	testGuestCannotSeeArticle	test_guest_cannot_see_article
Variable	camelCase	$articlesWithAuthor	$articles_with_author
Collection	descriptive, plural	$activeUsers = User::active()->get()	$active, $data
Object	descriptive, singular	$activeUser = User::active()->first()	$users, $obj
Config and language files index	snake_case	articles_enabled	ArticlesEnabled; articles-enabled
View	kebab-case	show-filtered.blade.php	showFiltered.blade.php, show_filtered.blade.php
Config	snake_case	google_calendar.php	googleCalendar.php, google-calendar.php
Contract (interface)	adjective or noun	AuthenticationInterface	Authenticatable, IAuthentication
Trait	adjective	Notifiable	NotificationTrait
Trait (PSR)	adjective	NotifiableTrait	Notification
Enum	singular	UserType	UserTypes, UserTypeEnum
FormRequest	singular	UpdateUserRequest	UpdateUserFormRequest, UserFormRequest, UserRequest
Seeder	singular	UserSeeder	UsersSeeder

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Use shorter and more readable syntax where possible

Bad:

$request->session()->get('cart');
$request->input('name');

Good:

session('cart');
$request->name;

More examples:

Common syntax	Shorter and more readable syntax
Session::get('cart')	session('cart')
$request->session()->get('cart')	session('cart')
Session::put('cart', $data)	session(['cart' => $data])
$request->input('name'), Request::get('name')	$request->name, request('name')
return Redirect::back()	return back()
is_null($object->relation) ? null : $object->relation->id	optional($object->relation)->id (in PHP 8: $object->relation?->id)
return view('index')->with('title', $title)->with('client', $client)	return view('index', compact('title', 'client'))
$request->has('value') ? $request->value : 'default';	$request->get('value', 'default')
Carbon::now(), Carbon::today()	now(), today()
App::make('Class')	app('Class')
->where('column', '=', 1)	->where('column', 1)
->orderBy('created_at', 'desc')	->latest()
->orderBy('age', 'desc')	->latest('age')
->orderBy('created_at', 'asc')	->oldest()
->select('id', 'name')->get()	->get(['id', 'name'])
->first()->name	->value('name')

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Use IoC / Service container instead of new Class

new Class syntax creates tight coupling between classes and complicates testing. Use IoC container or facades instead.

Bad:

$user = new User;
$user->create($request->validated());

Good:

public function __construct(User $user)
{
    $this->user = $user;
}

...

$this->user->create($request->validated());

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Do not get data from the .env file directly

Pass the data to config files instead and then use the config() helper function to use the data in an application.

Bad:

$apiKey = env('API_KEY');

Good:

// config/api.php
'key' => env('API_KEY'),

// Use the data
$apiKey = config('api.key');

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Store dates in the standard format. Use accessors and mutators to modify date format

A date as a string is less reliable than an object instance, e.g. a Carbon-instance. It's recommended to pass Carbon objects between classes instead of date strings. Rendering should be done in the display layer (templates):

Bad:

{{ Carbon::createFromFormat('Y-d-m H-i', $object->ordered_at)->toDateString() }}
{{ Carbon::createFromFormat('Y-d-m H-i', $object->ordered_at)->format('m-d') }}

Good:

// Model
protected $dates = [
    'ordered_at',
];

// Blade view
{{ $object->ordered_at->toDateString() }}
{{ $object->ordered_at->format('m-d') }}

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Other good practices

• Avoid using patterns and tools that are alien to Laravel and similar frameworks (i.e. RoR, Django). If you like Symfony (or Spring) approach for building apps, it's a good idea to use these frameworks instead.

• Never put any logic in routes files.

• Minimize usage of vanilla PHP in Blade templates.

• Use in-memory DB for testing.

• Do not override standard framework features to avoid problems related to updating the framework version and many other issues.

• Use modern PHP syntax where possible, but don't forget about readability.

• Avoid using View Composers and similar tools unless you really know what you're doing. In most cases, there is a better way to solve the problem.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, following these best practices can help you to build robust, efficient, and secure Laravel-based applications. By using Laravel's built-in features and adhering to consistent coding style guidelines, you can ensure that your applications are easy to maintain and scale over time.