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Contents

Single responsibility principle

Methods should do just one thing

Fat models, skinny controllers

Validation

Business logic should be in service class

Don't repeat yourself (DRY)

Prefer to use Eloquent over using 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

Convention over configuration

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

Do not use DocBlocks

Other good practices

Single responsibility principle

A class should have only one responsibility.

Bad:

public function update(Request $request): string
{
    $validated = $request->validate([
        'title' => 'required|max:255',
        'events' => 'required|array:date,type'
    ]);

    foreach ($request->events as $event) {
        $date = $this->carbon->parse($event['date'])->toString();

        $this->logger->log('Update event ' . $date . ' :: ' . $);
    }

    $this->event->updateGeneralEvent($request->validated());

    return back();
}

Good:

public function update(UpdateRequest $request): string
{
    $this->logService->logEvents($request->events);

    $this->event->updateGeneralEvent($request->validated());

    return back();
}

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Methods should do just one thing

A function should do just one thing and do it well.

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. You may want to check out Eloquent to SQL reference

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.

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Follow Laravel naming conventions

Follow PSR standards.

Also, follow naming conventions accepted by Laravel community:

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Convention over configuration

As long as you follow certain conventions, you do not need to add additional configuration.

Bad:

// Table name 'Customer'
// Primary key 'customer_id'
class Customer extends Model
{
    const CREATED_AT = 'created_at';
    const UPDATED_AT = 'updated_at';

    protected $table = 'Customer';
    protected $primaryKey = 'customer_id';

    public function roles(): BelongsToMany
    {
        return $this->belongsToMany(Role::class, 'role_customer', 'customer_id', 'role_id');
    }
}

Good:

// Table name 'customers'
// Primary key 'id'
class Customer extends Model
{
    public function roles(): BelongsToMany
    {
        return $this->belongsToMany(Role::class);
    }
}

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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:

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

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

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Do not use DocBlocks

DocBlocks reduce readability. Use a descriptive method name and modern PHP features like return type hints instead.

Bad:

/**
 * The function checks if given string is a valid ASCII string
 *
 * @param string $string String we get from frontend which might contain
 *                       illegal characters. Returns True is the string
 *                       is valid.
 *
 * @return bool
 * @author  John Smith
 *
 * @license GPL
 */

public function checkString($string)
{
}

Good:

public function isValidAsciiString(string $string): bool
{
}

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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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