Cheatsheet

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Cheatsheet#

Laravel is a free, open-source PHP web framework created by Taylor Otwell in 2011. It follows the model-view-controller (MVC) architectural pattern and aims to make the development process more enjoyable for developers by simplifying common tasks used in many web projects.

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Routing and Controllers

// routes/web.php
use App\Http\Controllers\UserController;

// Basic routes
Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('welcome');
});

// Route with parameters
Route::get('/user/{id}', function ($id) {
    return 'User '.$id;
});

// Controller routes
Route::get('/users', [UserController::class, 'index']);
Route::resource('posts', PostController::class);

// Route groups
Route::middleware(['auth'])->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
        return view('dashboard');
    });
});

// Route with name
Route::get('/profile', function () {
    return view('profile');
})->name('profile');

// Controller class
class UserController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        $users = User::all();
        return view('users.index', compact('users'));
    }

    public function show(User $user)
    {
        return view('users.show', compact('user'));
    }
}

Eloquent ORM and Database

// Model definition
class User extends Model
{
    protected $fillable = ['name', 'email', 'password'];

    // Relationships
    public function posts()
    {
        return $this->hasMany(Post::class);
    }

    public function profile()
    {
        return $this->hasOne(Profile::class);
    }
}

// Database queries
// Basic CRUD
$user = User::create([
    'name' => 'John Doe',
    'email' => 'john@example.com'
]);

$users = User::where('active', true)->get();
$user = User::find(1);
$user->update(['name' => 'Jane Doe']);
$user->delete();

// Advanced queries
$users = User::where('votes', '>', 100)
            ->orWhere('name', 'John')
            ->orderBy('name', 'desc')
            ->take(10)
            ->get();

// Relationships
$user->posts()->create([
    'title' => 'My Post'
]);

// Eager loading
$users = User::with('posts')->get();

Blade Templates

// resources/views/layout.blade.php
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>@yield('title')</title>
</head>
<body>
    @include('partials.header')

    @yield('content')

    @include('partials.footer')
</body>
</html>

// resources/views/home.blade.php
@extends('layout')

@section('title', 'Home Page')

@section('content')
    @if(auth()->check())
        <h1>Welcome, {{ auth()->user()->name }}</h1>
    @endif

    @foreach($posts as $post)
        <div class="post">
            <h2>{{ $post->title }}</h2>
            <p>{{ $post->content }}</p>
        </div>
    @endforeach

    @forelse($comments as $comment)
        <p>{{ $comment->body }}</p>
    @empty
        <p>No comments found.</p>
    @endforelse

    @component('components.alert')
        @slot('title')
            Alert Title
        @endslot
        <strong>Alert content here</strong>
    @endcomponent
</body>
</html>

Authentication and Authorization

// Authentication
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;

// Login
if (Auth::attempt(['email' => $email, 'password' => $password])) {
    return redirect()->intended('dashboard');
}

// Logout
Auth::logout();

// Get authenticated user
$user = Auth::user();

// Authorization (Policies)
class PostPolicy
{
    public function update(User $user, Post $post)
    {
        return $user->id === $post->user_id;
    }
}

// Using policies
if ($user->can('update', $post)) {
    //
}

// Gates
Gate::define('admin', function (User $user) {
    return $user->is_admin;
});

// Middleware
Route::middleware(['auth'])->group(function () {
    // Protected routes
});

Form Validation

// Controller validation
public function store(Request $request)
{
    $validated = $request->validate([
        'title' => 'required|unique:posts|max:255',
        'body' => 'required',
        'email' => 'required|email',
        'age' => 'required|numeric|min:18',
    ]);

    // Create post with validated data
    Post::create($validated);
}

// Form Request Validation
class StorePostRequest extends FormRequest
{
    public function rules()
    {
        return [
            'title' => 'required|unique:posts|max:255',
            'body' => 'required',
        ];
    }

    public function messages()
    {
        return [
            'title.required' => 'A title is required',
            'body.required' => 'A message is required',
        ];
    }
}

// Using custom request in controller
public function store(StorePostRequest $request)
{
    $validated = $request->validated();
    // Store the post
}

API Development

// routes/api.php
Route::middleware('auth:sanctum')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/user', function (Request $request) {
        return $request->user();
    });

    Route::apiResource('posts', PostController::class);
});

// API Controller
class PostController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        return PostResource::collection(Post::paginate());
    }

    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $validated = $request->validate([
            'title' => 'required',
            'content' => 'required',
        ]);

        $post = Post::create($validated);

        return new PostResource($post);
    }
}

// API Resource
class PostResource extends JsonResource
{
    public function toArray($request)
    {
        return [
            'id' => $this->id,
            'title' => $this->title,
            'content' => $this->content,
            'created_at' => $this->created_at->toDateTimeString(),
        ];
    }
}

Events and Listeners

// Event class
class OrderShipped extends Event
{
    public $order;

    public function __construct(Order $order)
    {
        $this->order = $order;
    }
}

// Listener class
class SendShipmentNotification
{
    public function handle(OrderShipped $event)
    {
        // Send notification logic
    }
}

// EventServiceProvider
protected $listen = [
    OrderShipped::class => [
        SendShipmentNotification::class,
    ],
];

// Dispatching events
event(new OrderShipped($order));
// Or
OrderShipped::dispatch($order);

Queue Jobs

// Job class
class ProcessPodcast implements ShouldQueue
{
    use Dispatchable, InteractsWithQueue, Queueable, SerializesModels;

    private $podcast;

    public function __construct(Podcast $podcast)
    {
        $this->podcast = $podcast;
    }

    public function handle()
    {
        // Process the podcast
    }
}

// Dispatching jobs
ProcessPodcast::dispatch($podcast);
// Or with delay
ProcessPodcast::dispatch($podcast)->delay(now()->addMinutes(10));

// Job chaining
ProcessPodcast::withChain([
    new OptimizePodcast,
    new ReleasePodcast
])->dispatch();

Testing

// Feature test
class PostTest extends TestCase
{
    use RefreshDatabase;

    public function test_user_can_create_post()
    {
        $user = User::factory()->create();

        $response = $this->actingAs($user)->post('/posts', [
            'title' => 'Test Post',
            'content' => 'Test Content'
        ]);

        $response->assertStatus(201);
        $this->assertDatabaseHas('posts', [
            'title' => 'Test Post'
        ]);
    }
}

// Unit test
class UserTest extends TestCase
{
    public function test_user_has_full_name_attribute()
    {
        $user = User::factory()->create([
            'first_name' => 'John',
            'last_name' => 'Doe'
        ]);

        $this->assertEquals('John Doe', $user->full_name);
    }
}

Artisan Commands

// Custom command
class SendEmails extends Command
{
    protected $signature = 'mail:send {user} {--queue}';

    protected $description = 'Send emails to users';

    public function handle()
    {
        $userId = $this->argument('user');
        $queue = $this->option('queue');

        // Command logic
    }
}

// Common Artisan commands
php artisan list                     # List commands
php artisan make:model Post -mc      # Create model with migration and controller
php artisan make:controller PostController --resource  # Resource controller
php artisan migrate                  # Run migrations
php artisan db:seed                  # Run seeders
php artisan queue:work              # Start queue worker
php artisan cache:clear             # Clear cache
php artisan route:list              # List routes
php artisan serve                   # Start development server

Pro Tips

  • Use Laravel Sail for Docker development environment

  • Implement repository pattern for large applications

  • Use Laravel Telescope for debugging

  • Implement proper error handling and logging

  • Use Laravel Sanctum for API authentication

  • Implement proper caching strategy

  • Use Laravel Scout for full-text search

  • Write comprehensive tests

  • Use Laravel Horizon for queue monitoring

  • Implement proper security measures

  • Use Laravel Mix for asset compilation

  • Keep controllers thin and use service classes

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