If you’ve been working with Laravel for a while, you already know how beautifully structured it is. But as your project grows, even the cleanest codebase can turn messy fast. Over the years, I’ve learned the hard way that a few simple practices can make all the difference.

Keep Your Controllers Light

Controllers should never become “everything files.” Move your heavy logic into Service classes or Actions, and let controllers do what they’re meant to — handle requests and responses.

Use Request Validation Properly

Instead of throwing validation rules directly into your controller, use Form Request classes. It keeps things organized and reusable — plus, it looks way cleaner.

Don’t Ignore Naming Conventions

Laravel thrives on convention. Stick to clear and meaningful names for your models, relationships, and methods. Future you (and your teammates) will thank you later.

Use Eloquent Smartly

Eloquent is powerful — but also dangerous when abused. Avoid the classic N+1 problem by using with() for eager loading, and always double-check your query performance.

Configuration Belongs in .env

Never hardcode your secrets or config values. Use your .env file for anything environment-specific — URLs, API keys, mail settings, you name it.

Keep Your Migrations and Seeders Clean

When you’re testing or deploying, messy migrations can become a nightmare. Keep them clear, and use factories and seeders to populate dummy data instead of manual inserts.

Write Tests (Even Small Ones)

You don’t need 100% coverage, but a few tests go a long way. Laravel’s built-in testing tools make it super easy to test routes, models, and even complex business logic.

At the end of the day, Laravel rewards developers who respect structure and readability. The framework already gives us so much — the least we can do is write code that feels as elegant as Laravel itself. Thanks.

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