A Quick Guide to PSR Coding Style Recommendations

Laravel, PHP As Is, PHP As Is, PHP Recipes

About Laravel

First and foremost, Laravel provides the most value when you write things the way Laravel intended you to write. If there’s a documented way to achieve something, follow it. Whenever you do something differently, make sure you have a justification for why you didn’t follow the defaults.

General PHP Rules

Code style must follow PSR-1, PSR-2 and PSR-12. Generally speaking, everything string-like that’s not public-facing should use camelCase. Detailed examples on these are spread throughout the guide in their relevant sections.

Void return types

If a method returns nothing, it should be indicated with void. This makes it more clear to the users of your code what your intention was when writing it.

    // Good
 
    // in a Laravel model
    public function scopeArchived(Builder $query): void
    {
        $query->
            ...
    }

Typed properties

You should type a property whenever possible. Don’t use a docblock.

    // Good
    class Foo
    {
        public string $bar;
    }
 
    // Bad
    class Foo
    {
        /** @var string */
        public $bar;
    }

Docblocks

Don’t use docblocks for methods that can be fully type hinted (unless you need a description).

Only add a description when it provides more context than the method signature itself. Use full sentences for descriptions, including a period at the end.

    // Good
    class Url
    {
        public static function fromString(string $url): Url
        {
            // ...
        }
    }
 
    // Bad: The description is redundant, and the method is fully type-hinted.
    class Url
    {
        /**
        * Create a url from a string.
        *
        * @param string $url
        *
        * @return \Lampdev\Url\Url
        */
        public static function fromString(string $url): Url
        {
            // ...
        }
    }

Always use fully qualified class names in docblocks.

    // Good
 
    /**
    * @param string $url
    *
    * @return \Lampdev\Url\Url
    */
 
    // Bad
 
    /**
    * @param string $foo
    *
    * @return Url
    */

Using multiple lines for a docblock, might draw too much attention to it. When possible, docblocks should be written on one line.

    // Good
 
    /** @var string */
    /** @test */
 
    // Bad
 
    /**
    * @test
    */

If a variable has multiple types, the most common occurring type should be first.

    // Good
 
    /** @var \Lampdev\Goo\Bar|null */
 
    // Bad
 
    /** @var null|\Lampdev\Goo\Bar */

Traits

Each applied trait should go on its own line, and the use keyword should be used for each of them. This will result in clean diffs when traits are added or removed.

    // Good
 
    class MyClass {
        use TraitA;
        use TraitB;
    }
 
    // Bad
 
    class MyClass {
        use TraitA, TraitB;
    }

Strings

When possible prefer string interpolation above sprintf and the . operator.

    // Good
    $greeting = "Hi, I am {$name}.";
 
    // Bad
    $greeting = 'Hi, I am ' . $name . '.';

Ternary operators

Every portion of a ternary expression should be on its own line unless it’s a really short expression.

    // Good
    $result = $object instanceof Model
        ? $object->name
        : 'A default value';
 
    $name = $isFoo ? 'foo' : 'bar';
 
    // Bad
    $result = $object instanceof Model ?
        $object->name :
        'A default value';

If statements

Bracket position

Always use curly brackets.

    // Good
    if ($condition) {
        ...
    }
 
    // Bad
    if ($condition) ...

Happy path

Generally a function should have its unhappy path first and its happy path last. In most cases this will cause the happy path being in an unindented part of the function which makes it more readable.

    // Good
 
    if (! $goodCondition) {
        throw new Exception;
    }
 
    // do work
 
    // Bad
 
    if ($goodCondition) {
        // do work
    }
 
    throw new Exception;

Avoid else

In general, else should be avoided because it makes code less readable. In most cases it can be refactored using early returns. This will also cause the happy path to go last, which is desirable.

    // Good
 
    if (! $conditionBA) {
        // conditionB A failed
 
        return;
    }
 
    if (! $conditionB) {
        // conditionB A passed, B failed
 
        return;
    }
 
    // condition A and B passed
 
    // Bad
 
    if ($conditionA) {
        if ($conditionB) {
            // condition A and B passed
        } else {
            // conditionB A passed, B failed
        }
    }
    else {
        // conditionB A failed
    }

Another option to refactor an else away is using a ternary

    // Good
 
    $condition
        ? $this->doSomething();
        : $this->doSomethingElse();
 
    // Bad
 
    if ($condition) {
        $this->doSomething();
    } else {
        $this->doSomethingElse();
    }

Compound ifs

In general, separate if statements should be preferred over a compound condition. This makes debugging code easier.

    // Good
    if (! $conditionA) {
        return;
    }
 
    if (! $conditionB) {
        return;
    }
 
    if (! $conditionC) {
        return;
    }
 
    // do stuff
 
    // Bad
    if ($conditionA && $conditionB && $conditionC) {
        // do stuff
    }

Comments

Comments should be avoided as much as possible by writing expressive code. If you do need to use a comment, format it like this:

    // There should be a space before a single line comment.
 
    /*
    * If you need to explain a lot you can use a comment block. Notice the  * single * on the first line. Comment blocks don't need to be three * lines long or three characters shorter than the previous line.
    */

A possible strategy to refactor away a comment is to create a function with name that describes the comment

    // Good
    $this->calculateLoans();
 
    // Bad
 
    // Start calculation loads

Whitespace

Statements should be allowed to breathe. In general always add blank lines between statements, unless they’re a sequence of single-line equivalent operations. This isn’t something enforceable, it’s a matter of what looks best in its context.

    // Good
    public function getPage($url)
    {
        $page = $this->pages()->where('slug', $url)->first();
 
        if (! $page) {
            return null;
        }
 
        if ($page['private'] && ! Auth::check()) {
            return null;
        }
 
        return $page;
    }
 
    // Bad: Everything's cramped together.
    public function getPage($url)
    {
        $page = $this->pages()->where('slug', $url)->first();
        if (! $page) {
            return null;
        }
        if ($page['private'] && ! Auth::check()) {
            return null;
        }
        return $page;
    }
    // Good: A sequence of single-line equivalent operations.
    public function up()
    {
        Schema::create('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->increments('id');
            $table->string('name');
            $table->string('email')->unique();
            $table->string('password');
            $table->rememberToken();
            $table->timestamps();
        });
    }

Don’t add any extra empty lines between {} brackets.

    // Good
    if ($foo) {
        $this->foo = $foo;
    }
 
    // Bad
    if ($foo) {
 
        $this->foo = $foo;
 
    }

Configuration

Configuration files must use kebab-case.

    config/
        pdf-generator.php

Configuration keys must use snake_case.

    // config/pdf-generator.php
    return [
        'chrome_path' => env('CHROME_PATH'),
    ];

Avoid using the env helper outside of configuration files. Create a configuration value from the env variable like above.

When adding config values for a specific service them to the services config file. Do not create a new config file.

    // Good: adding credentials to `config/services.php`
    return [
        'ses' => [
                'key' => env('SES_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID'),
                'secret' => env('SES_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY'),
                'region' => env('SES_AWS_DEFAULT_REGION', 'us-east-1'),
            ],
 
        'github' => [
            'username' => env('GITHUB_USERNAME'),
            'token' => env('GITHUB_TOKEN'),
            'client_id' => env('GITHUB_CLIENT_ID'),
            'client_secret' => env('GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET'),
            'redirect' => env('GITHUB_CALLBACK_URL'),
            'docs_access_token' => env('GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN'),
        ],
 
        'weyland_yutani' => [
            'token' => env('WEYLAND_YUTANI_TOKEN')
        ],
    ];
    // Bad: creating a new config file: `weyland-yutani.php`
 
    return [
        'weyland_yutani' => [
            'token' => env('WEYLAND_YUTANI_TOKEN')
        ],
    ]

Artisan commands

The names given to artisan commands should all be kebab-cased.

    # Good
    php artisan delete-old-records
 
    # Bad
    php artisan deleteOldRecords

A command should always give some feedback on what the result is. Minimally you should let the handle method spit out a comment at the end indicating that all went well.

    // in a Command
    public function handle()
    {
        // do some work
 
        $this->comment('All ok!');
    }

When the main function of a result is processing items, consider adding output inside of the loop, so progress can be tracked. Put the output before the actual process. If something goes wrong, this makes it easy to know which item caused the error.

At the end of the command, provide a summary on how much processing was done.

    // in a Command
    public function handle()
        {
        $this->comment("Start processing items...")
 
        // do some work
        $items->each(function(Item $item) {
            $this->info("Processing item id `{$item-id}`...")
 
            $this->processItem($item)
        });
 
        $this->comment("Processed {$item->count()} items.");
    }

Routing

Public-facing urls must use kebab-case.

    https://lamp-dev.com/blog
    https://lamp-dev.com/shopify-quickstart-guide-how-to-create-your-own-shopify-store-in-minutes

Route names must use camelCase.

    Route::get('lamp-dev', 'LampDevController@index')->name('lampDev');
    <a href="{{ route('lampDev') }}">Lamp Dev</a>

All routes have an http verb, that’s why I suggest to put the verb first when defining a route. It makes a group of routes very readable. Any other route options should come after it.

    // Good: all http verbs come first
    Route::get('/', 'HomeController@index')->name('home');
    Route::get('open-source', 'OpenSourceController@index')->name('openSource');
 
    // Bad: http verbs not easily scannable
    Route::name('home')->get('/', 'HomeController@index');
    Route::name('openSource')->get('OpenSourceController@index');

Route parameters should use camelCase.

    Route::get('news/{newsItem}', 'NewsItemsController@index');

A route url should not start with / unless the url would be an empty string.

    // Good
    Route::get('/', 'HomeController@index');
    Route::get('open-source', 'OpenSourceController@index');
 
    //Bad
    Route::get('', 'HomeController@index');
    Route::get('/open-source', 'OpenSourceController@index');

Controllers

Controllers that control a resource must use the plural resource name.

    class PostsController
    {
        // ...
    }

Try to keep controllers simple and stick to the default CRUD keywords (index, create, store, show, edit, update, destroy). Extract a new controller if you need other actions.

In the following example, we could have PostsController@favorite, and PostsController@unfavorite, or we could extract it to a separate FavoritePostsController.

    class PostsController
    {
        public function create()
        {
            // ...
        }
 
        // ...
 
        public function favorite(Post $post)
        {
            request()->user()->favorites()->attach($post);
 
            return response(null, 200);
        }
 
        public function unfavorite(Post $post)
        {
            request()->user()->favorites()->detach($post);
 
            return response(null, 200);
        }
    }

Here we fall back to default CRUD words, store and destroy.

    class FavoritePostsController
    {
        public function store(Post $post)
        {
            request()->user()->favorites()->attach($post);
 
            return response(null, 200);
        }
 
        public function destroy(Post $post)
        {
            request()->user()->favorites()->detach($post);
 
            return response(null, 200);
        }
    }

This is a loose guideline that doesn’t need to be enforced.

Views

View files must use camelCase.

    resources/
        views/
            openSource.blade.php
    class LampDevController
    {
        public function index() {
            return view('lampDev');
        }
    }

Validation

When using multiple rules for one field in a form request, avoid using |, always use array notation. Using an array notation will make it easier to apply custom rule classes to a field.

    // Good
    public function rules()
    {
        return [
            'email' => ['required', 'email'],
        ];
    }
 
    // Bad
    public function rules()
    {
        return [
            'email' => 'required|email',
        ];
    }

All custom validation rules must use snake_case:

    Validator::extend('organisation_type', function ($attribute, $value) {
        return OrganisationType::isValid($value);
    });

Blade Templates

Indent using four spaces.

    <a href="/open-source">
        Open Source
    </a>

Don’t add spaces after control structures.

    @if($condition)
        Something
    @endif

Authorization

Policies must use camelCase.

    Gate::define('editPost', function ($user, $post) {
        return $user->id == $post->user_id;
    });
    @can('editPost', $post)
        <a href="{{ route('posts.edit', $post) }}">
            Edit
        </a>
    @endcan

Try to name abilities using default CRUD words. One exception: replace show with view. A server shows a resource, a user views it.

Translations

Translations must be rendered with the __ function. We prefer using this over @lang in Blade views because __ can be used in both Blade views and regular PHP code. Here’s an example:

    <h2>{{ __('newsletter.form.title') }}</h2>
 
    {!! __('newsletter.form.description') !!}

Naming Classes

Naming things is often seen as one of the harder things in programming. That’s why we’ve established some high level guidelines for naming classes.

Controllers

Generally controllers are named by the plural form of their corresponding resource and a Controller suffix. This is to avoid naming collisions with models that are often equally named.

e.g. UsersController or EventDaysController

When writing non-resourceful controllers you might come across invokable controllers that perform a single action. These can be named by the action they perform again suffixed by Controller.

e.g. PerformCleanupController

Resources (and transformers)

Both Eloquent resources and Fractal transformers are plural resources suffixed with Resource or Transformer accordingly. This is to avoid naming collisions with models.

Jobs

A job’s name should describe its action.

E.g. CreateUser or PerformDatabaseCleanup

Events

Events will often be fired before or after the actual event. This should be very clear by the tense used in their name.

E.g. ApprovingLoan before the action is completed and LoanApproved after the action is completed.

Listeners

Listeners will perform an action based on an incoming event. Their name should reflect that action with a Listener suffix. This might seem strange at first but will avoid naming collisions with jobs.

E.g. SendInvitationMailListener

Commands

To avoid naming collisions we’ll suffix commands with Command, so they are easiliy distinguisable from jobs.

e.g. PublishScheduledPostsCommand

Mailables

Again to avoid naming collisions we’ll suffix mailables with Mail, as they’re often used to convey an event, action or question.

e.g. AccountActivatedMail or NewEventMail

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