php-laravel

PHP & Laravel Development

Code Style

• declare(strict_types=1) in every file
• Happy path last — handle errors/guards first, success at the end. Use early returns; avoid else.
• Comments only explain why, never what. Never comment tests. If code needs a "what" comment, rename or restructure instead.
• No single-letter variables — $exception not $e, $request not $r
• ?string not string|null. Always specify void. Import classnames everywhere, never inline FQN.
• Validation uses array notation ['required', 'email'] for easier custom rule classes

Modern PHP (8.2+)

Use these when applicable — do not explain them in comments (Claude and developers know them):

• Readonly classes and properties for immutable data
• Enums with methods and interfaces for domain constants
• Match expressions over switch
• Constructor promotion with readonly
• First-class callable syntax $fn = $obj->method(...)
• Fibers for cooperative async when Swoole/ReactPHP not available
• DNF types (Stringable&Countable)|null for complex constraints

Laravel Architecture

• Fat models, thin controllers — controllers only: validate, call service/action, return response
• Service classes for business logic with readonly DI: __construct(private readonly PaymentService $payments)
• Action classes (single-purpose invokable) for operations that cross service boundaries
• Form Requests for all validation — never validate inline in controllers
• Events + Listeners for side effects (notifications, logging, cache invalidation). Do not put side effects in services.
• Feature folder organization over type-based when project exceeds ~20 models

Eloquent

• Model::preventLazyLoading(!app()->isProduction()) — catch N+1 during development
• Select only needed columns: Post::with(['user:id,name'])->select(['id', 'title', 'user_id'])
• Bulk operations at database level: Post::where('status', 'draft')->update([...]) — do not load into memory to update
• increment()/decrement() for counters in a single query
• Composite indexes for common query combinations
• Chunking for large datasets (chunk(1000)), lazy collections for memory-constrained processing
• $guarded = [] is a mass assignment vulnerability — always use explicit $fillable