Eloquent Best Practices

Relationship Best Practices

Define Return Types

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\BelongsTo;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\HasMany;

class Post extends Model
{
    public function user(): BelongsTo
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(User::class);
    }
    
    public function comments(): HasMany
    {
        return $this->hasMany(Comment::class);
    }
}

Use withCount for Counts

// ❌ Triggers additional queries
foreach ($posts as $post) {
    echo $post->comments()->count();
}

// ✅ Load counts efficiently
$posts = Post::withCount('comments')->get();
foreach ($posts as $post) {
    echo $post->comments_count;
}

Mass Assignment Protection

class Post extends Model
{
    // ✅ Whitelist fillable attributes
    protected $fillable = ['title', 'content', 'status'];
    
    // Or blacklist guarded attributes
    protected $guarded = ['id', 'user_id'];
    
    // ❌ Never do this
    // protected $guarded = [];
}

Use Casts for Type Safety

class Post extends Model
{
    protected $casts = [
        'published_at' => 'datetime',
        'metadata' => 'array',
        'is_featured' => 'boolean',
        'views' => 'integer',
    ];
}

Chunking for Large Datasets

// ✅ Process in chunks to save memory
Post::chunk(200, function ($posts) {
    foreach ($posts as $post) {
        // Process each post
    }
});

// ✅ Or use lazy collections
Post::lazy()->each(function ($post) {
    // Process one at a time
});

Database-Level Operations

// ❌ Slow - loads into memory first
$posts = Post::where('status', 'draft')->get();
foreach ($posts as $post) {
    $post->update(['status' => 'archived']);
}

// ✅ Fast - single query
Post::where('status', 'draft')->update(['status' => 'archived']);

// ✅ Increment/decrement
Post::where('id', $id)->increment('views');

Use Model Events Wisely

class Post extends Model
{
    protected static function booted()
    {
        static::creating(function ($post) {
            $post->slug = Str::slug($post->title);
        });
        
        static::deleting(function ($post) {
            $post->comments()->delete();
        });
    }
}

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Don't Query in Loops

// ❌ Bad
foreach ($userIds as $id) {
    $user = User::find($id);
}

// ✅ Good
$users = User::whereIn('id', $userIds)->get();

Don't Forget Indexes

// Migration
Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->foreignId('user_id')->constrained()->index();
    $table->string('slug')->unique();
    $table->string('status')->index();
    $table->timestamp('published_at')->nullable()->index();
    
    // Composite index for common queries
    $table->index(['status', 'published_at']);
});

Prevent Lazy Loading in Development

// In AppServiceProvider boot method
Model::preventLazyLoading(!app()->isProduction());

Checklist

• Relationships eagerly loaded where needed
• Only selecting required columns
• Using query scopes for reusability
• Mass assignment protection configured
• Appropriate casts defined
• Indexes on foreign keys and query columns
• Using database-level operations when possible
• Chunking for large datasets
• Model events used appropriately
• Lazy loading prevented in development