Five Practical Laravel Tips to Boost Your Development

1. Use Model Factories for Quick Testing

Testing is key, but manually creating data can be a drag. Laravel’s model factories let you generate fake data fast. Set one up in database/factories/ProductFactory.php:

use App\Models\Product;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\Factory;

class ProductFactory extends Factory
{
    protected $model = Product::class;

    public function definition()
    {
        return [
            'name' => $this->faker->word(),
            'description' => $this->faker->sentence(),
            'price' => $this->faker->randomFloat(2, 10, 100),
        ];
    }
}

php artisan tinker
Product::factory()->count(10)->create();

This populates your database with 10 products instantly—perfect for testing APIs or views.

2. Leverage Route Model Binding for Cleaner Code

Instead of fetching models manually, let Laravel do it with route model binding. In routes/api.php:

use App\Http\Controllers\ProductController;
use App\Models\Product;

Route::get('/products/{product}', [ProductController::class, 'show']);

public function show(Product $product)
{
    return $product;
}

Laravel automatically finds the product by ID, reducing boilerplate and avoiding findOrFail errors.

3. Optimize Queries with Eager Loading

$products = Product::with('categories')->get();

This prevents extra database hits, a tip I’ve used to speed up eCommerce listings significantly.

4. Simplify Validation with Form Requests

Tired of repeating validation logic? Create a form request:

php artisan make:request ProductRequest

In app/Http/Requests/ProductRequest.php:

public function rules()
{
    return [
        'name' => 'required|string|max:255',
        'price' => 'required|numeric',
    ];
}

Use it in your controller:

public function store(ProductRequest $request)
{
    Product::create($request->validated());
}

This keeps your code DRY and secure.

5. Use Local Scopes for Reusable Queries

Need to reuse a query? Define a local scope in your model. For active products:

class Product extends Model
{
    public function scopeActive($query)
    {
        return $query->where('active', true);
    }
}

Call it like:

$activeProducts = Product::active()->get();