Helper Scripts Available:

• •scripts/linter-formatter.sh - Formats php code, always execute with the --help flag first to check the args

Laravel Development Patterns

Architecture Principles

Service Layer Pattern

• •Controllers should be thin (max 10 lines per method)
• •Business logic lives in Service classes
• •Use dependency injection via constructor

// app/Services/UserService.php
class UserService
{
    public function __construct(
        private readonly UserRepository $users,
        private readonly NotificationService $notifications
    ) {}
}

Repository Pattern (when needed)

• •Use for complex queries or when switching ORMs is possible
• •Keep Eloquent in repositories, not controllers
• •Return Collections or Models, never arrays

Eloquent Best Practices

Query Optimization

• •Always use select() to limit columns
• •Use with() for eager loading (prevent N+1)
• •Use withCount() instead of loading relations just to count
• •Prefer chunk() or lazy() for large datasets

User::select(['id', 'name', 'email'])
    ->with(['posts:id,user_id,title'])
    ->withCount('comments')
    ->where('active', true)
    ->lazy();

Relationships

• •Define inverse relationships
• •Use belongsToMany with pivot timestamps
• •Prefer hasOneThrough / hasManyThrough over nested queries

Scopes

• •Use local scopes for reusable query logic
• •Name scopes as adjectives: scopeActive, scopeRecent

Controllers

Resource Controllers

• •Use php artisan make:controller -r for CRUD
• •Follow REST conventions strictly
• •Return proper HTTP status codes

Form Requests

• •Always use Form Requests for validation
• •Put authorization logic in authorize() method
• •Use custom messages and attributes

class StoreUserRequest extends FormRequest
{
    public function authorize(): bool
    {
        return $this->user()->can('create', User::class);
    }

    public function rules(): array
    {
        return [
            'email' => ['required', 'email', 'unique:users'],
            'password' => ['required', Password::defaults()],
        ];
    }
}

Testing with Pest

Structure

describe('UserService', function () {
    beforeEach(fn () => $this->service = app(UserService::class));

    it('creates user with valid data', function () {
        $user = $this->service->create([...]);
        expect($user)->toBeInstanceOf(User::class);
    });

    it('throws exception for duplicate email')
        ->throws(DuplicateEmailException::class);
});

Database Testing

• •Use RefreshDatabase trait
• •Use factories with states
• •Test relationships with assertDatabaseHas

Migrations

Naming Convention

• •create_users_table for new tables
• •add_status_to_orders_table for adding columns
• •drop_legacy_users_table for removals

Best Practices

• •Always add down() method
• •Use foreignId()->constrained() for foreign keys
• •Add indexes on columns used in WHERE/ORDER BY

Security Checklist

• • Use $fillable or $guarded on models
• • Sanitize user input with Form Requests
• • Use policies for authorization
• • Hash passwords with Hash::make()
• • Use signed URLs for sensitive actions
• • Enable CSRF protection
• • Use encrypt() for sensitive data

Performance

• •Use Redis for cache and sessions
• •Queue heavy operations (emails, exports)
• •Use sail|php artisan optimize in production
• •Enable OPcache
• •Use database indexes strategically