Laravel Tips & Tricks Every Fresher Should Know

Laravel is one of the most beginner-friendly yet powerful PHP frameworks. If you’re just starting your Laravel journey, here are some practical tips and tricks that will make your development process smoother, cleaner, and more professional.

1. Setup & Environment

Always configure your .env file correctly. Keep secrets (like DB passwords, API keys) out of version control. Use php artisan config:cache in production for performance.

composer create-project laravel/laravel my-app
cd my-app
php artisan key:generate

💡 Pro Tip: Don’t forget to ignore .env in git and use .env.example instead.

2. Master Artisan

Artisan is Laravel’s command line tool that saves time and reduces repetitive work.

• php artisan list — list all commands
• php artisan make:controller PostController --resource — generate resourceful controller
• php artisan route:list — check all registered routes
• php artisan tinker — test code in interactive shell

3. Routing & Controllers

// routes/web.php
Route::get('/', [HomeController::class, 'index'])->name('home');
Route::resource('posts', PostController::class);

Use Route Model Binding to automatically inject models into controller methods.

public function show(Post $post) {
    return view('posts.show', compact('post'));
}

4. Eloquent ORM Essentials

Eloquent makes database interaction elegant and expressive. Use relationships and eager loading effectively.

class User extends Model {
    public function posts() {
        return $this->hasMany(Post::class);
    }
}

// Eager load to prevent N+1 problem
$users = User::with('posts')->get();

5. Migrations, Seeders & Factories

Treat migrations as version control for your database.

php artisan make:migration create_posts_table
php artisan migrate
php artisan make:seeder UsersTableSeeder
php artisan db:seed

Factories help generate dummy test data quickly:

User::factory()->count(10)->create();

6. Debugging & Tinker

Use dd(), dump(), and Log::info() for debugging. For deeper insights, install Laravel Telescope.

Log::debug('Debugging user data', ['id' => $user->id]);

7. Validation & Form Requests

Use form requests instead of writing validation logic directly in controllers.

php artisan make:request StorePostRequest

public function store(StorePostRequest $request) {
    Post::create($request->validated());
}

8. Security Best Practices

• Always use @csrf in forms
• Use Hash::make() for passwords
• Define $fillable in models to prevent mass assignment issues
• Enable HTTPS in production

9. Testing Basics

Laravel comes with PHPUnit integration out of the box.

php artisan make:test PostTest
php artisan test

10. Performance & Deployment Tips

• Use php artisan config:cache and php artisan route:cache
• Queue heavy tasks with php artisan queue:work
• Use Redis for caching and sessions
• Deploy with php artisan migrate --force safely

Common Mistakes Freshers Make

• Querying inside loops (N+1 problem)
• Committing sensitive data like .env
• Not using transactions for multi-step DB changes
• Putting too much logic inside controllers

© 2025 Laravel Beginner’s Guide – Happy Coding!