Harris Raftopoulos

String validation logic in Laravel often required negating startsWith() and endsWith() calls, leading to less readable conditions. The new doesntStartWith() and doesntEndWith() methods flip this pattern for better code clarity. From Awkward Negations to Expressive Methods Previously, checking if a string didn't start or end with certain patterns

Laravel's Context API just got smarter with remember() and rememberHidden() functions that eliminate the need for manual has-get-set patterns. These new methods streamline context management with elegant closure-based caching. From Verbose Conditionals to Clean Closures Previously, managing context values required verbose conditional logic to check existence, retrieve values,

Custom Eloquent query builders in Laravel used to require overriding the newEloquentBuilder method on every model. The new UseEloquentBuilder attribute makes this relationship explicit and eliminates boilerplate code. The Old Override Pattern vs. The New Attribute Approach Previously, registering a custom query builder meant adding a method override to your

HTTP exception messages in Laravel get automatically truncated to prevent log bloat, but this can hide crucial debugging information. New truncation controls let you adjust this behavior globally or per-request. Understanding the Default Behavior Laravel automatically truncates RequestException messages to 120 characters when logging or reporting errors. This prevents your

Ever needed to use a different policy than Laravel's naming convention suggests, or wanted to make policy assignments crystal clear in your codebase? The UsePolicy attribute solves both challenges elegantly. Convention vs. Explicit Declaration Laravel's policy auto-discovery follows a simple naming convention: a Post model automatically

Laravel's make:job command now includes a --batched option that automatically scaffolds everything you need for job batching. Gone are the days of remembering which traits to import and which methods to implement. The Old Manual Process vs. The New Streamlined Approach Previously, setting up a batchable job

String encryption in Laravel used to require breaking out of fluent chains or using verbose pipe() workarounds. The new encrypt() and decrypt() methods change that game completely. The Old Way vs. The New Way Previously, if you wanted to encrypt a string while maintaining a fluent chain, you had to

Testing redirects to specific controller actions used to require brittle URL matching, but Laravel's new assertRedirectToAction() method makes redirect assertions as clean as your route definitions. Writing robust tests for HTTP redirects has always presented a challenge: do you test against hardcoded URLs that break when routes change,

Database seeders often need to share created records, but traditional approaches lead to messy code and tight coupling. Laravel's Context provides a clean solution for seeder data flow. When building complex database seeders, you frequently encounter scenarios where later seeders need access to records created by earlier ones.