Top 5 Laravel "Bad Practices" (My Opinion)

Introduction

This tutorial focuses on identifying and avoiding common bad practices in Laravel development that can lead to performance, security, and maintainability issues. By understanding these pitfalls, developers can create more efficient and secure applications.

Step 1: Avoid N+1 Query Problems

N+1 query issues are a major cause of performance problems in Laravel.

• Use eager loading to fetch related records in a single query.
• Example:

  $books = Book::with('author')->get();
  

• Tools like Laravel Debugbar, Telescope, and Clockwork can help identify N+1 queries.
• In Laravel 8.43 and later, prevent lazy loading by configuring the service provider to throw exceptions for N+1 queries.

Step 2: Load Only Necessary Data

Loading excessive data can lead to performance degradation.

• Instead of loading entire relationships, fetch only what you need.
• Use count() or select specific fields.
• Example:

  $count = $book->comments()->count();
  

• This practice may not show immediate issues but can become problematic as the application scales.

Step 3: Check Relationships and Chaining

Improper handling of object relationships can result in errors.

• Always validate intermediate objects when chaining methods.
• Use optional chaining or default values to prevent null property errors.
• Example:

  $authorName = optional($book->author)->name ?? 'Unknown';
  

Step 4: Return Appropriate HTTP Status Codes

Returning incorrect status codes can confuse frontend developers.

• Always match the HTTP status code to the response outcome.
• Use 200 for success responses and 400 or 500 for errors.
• This consistency helps maintain clear communication between backend and frontend teams.

Step 5: Validate User Data

Never trust user input without validation to avoid security vulnerabilities.

• Use form request classes to validate incoming data.
• Instead of using request()->all(), use request()->validated() to ensure only validated data is processed.
• Example:

  $validatedData = $request->validated();
  

Conclusion

By avoiding these five bad practices—N+1 queries, loading unnecessary data, unchecked relationships, improper status codes, and lack of validation—developers can significantly enhance the performance, security, and maintainability of their Laravel applications. For further exploration, consider reviewing the full list of bad practices, as well as best practices for Laravel development.