Laravel best 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;
}

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();
    }
}

Use custom form requests for complex 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 repository patterns

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)
{
    $this->articleRepository->handleUploadedImage($request->file('image'));

    ...
}

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

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();
}

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();

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());

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 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)'>

    <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'));

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');
```

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 $casts = [
    'ordered_at' => 'datetime',
];

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

Use shorter and more readable syntax where possible

Bad:

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

Good:

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

Keep your project tested to prevent critical bugs

Absolutely, writing automated tests is indeed a crucial best practice in software development, and it offers numerous benefits, as mentioned in your statement:
- Fewer bugs: Automated tests help catch and fix issues early in the development process, reducing the number of bugs that make it to production.
- Happier customers: Reliable software with fewer bugs leads to a better user experience, resulting in happier customers.
- Happier employers: High-quality, bug-free software contributes to satisfied clients and employers, enhancing your professional reputation.
- Confident developers: Automated tests provide confidence in the codebase, allowing developers to make changes without fear of breaking existing functionality.
- Productivity of new hires: New team members can quickly become productive if there's a robust test suite and adherence to established coding guidelines, such as Laravel's.
- Reliability: Relying on automated tests, rather than gut instinct, enhances the reliability of your projects. Laracasts' free testing courses, covering PHPUnit and Pest, are valuable resources for developers looking to improve their testing skills. PHPUnit is an industry-standard testing framework, while Pest simplifies and modernizes testing in PHP, making it an attractive choice for many developers.
- Example:

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

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~~

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')`

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.

JubaerHossain / laravel-best-practice.github.io

Laravel best practices

Other good practices

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