Laravel Best Practices

Note created on: 2023-05-05 07:45

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;
}

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();
    }
}

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',
        ];
    }
}

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');
        }
    }
}

Avoid duplication

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();
}

Prefer 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();

Mass assignment (request)

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());

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

Chunk data for data-heavy tasks

Bad:

$users = $this->get();

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

Good:

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

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())

Do not put JS and CSS in Blade

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.

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'));

Use standard Laravel tools

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.

Follow Laravel naming conventions

Follow PSR standards.

Also, follow naming conventions accepted by Laravel community:

Use shorter and more readable syntax

where possible

Bad:

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

Good:

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

More examples:

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());

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');

🔝 Back to contents

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') }}