✨ Clean Code in Laravel 12: Stop Writing Ugly PHP and Start Using These Real-Life Fixes

Your code works — but does it spark joy?

Laravel 12 and PHP 8.4 give us so many tools to write elegant, expressive code. Yet most devs still write spaghetti Laravel controllers, bulky foreach blocks, and forget about value objects or modern PHP features.

Let’s fix that.

In this guide, I’ll show messy vs. clean code side by side using Laravel 12 + PHP 8.4. These are things every Laravel dev has done — and how to do them better.

---

🧱 Example 1: Validating and Creating a Model in Controller

😵 Messy Code

public function store(Request $request)
{
    $request->validate([
        'name' => 'required|string|max:255',
        'email' => 'required|email|unique:users,email',
        'password' => 'required|string|min:8',
    ]);
    $user = new User();
    $user->name = $request->name;
    $user->email = $request->email;
    $user->password = Hash::make($request->password);
    $user->save();
    return response()->json($user);
}

✅ Clean Code (Laravel 12 + Form Request + Constructor Promotion)

// app/Http/Requests/StoreUserRequest.php
class StoreUserRequest extends FormRequest
{
    public function rules(): array
    {
        return [
            'name' => 'required|string|max:255',
            'email' => 'required|email|unique:users,email',
            'password' => 'required|string|min:8',
        ];
    }

    public function authorize(): bool
    {
        return true;
    }
}

// app/Services/UserService.php
class UserService
{
    public function __construct(
        protected User $user
    ) {}

  public function create(array $data): User
    {
        return $this->user->create([
            ...Arr::except($data, 'password'),
            'password' => Hash::make($data['password']),
        ]);
    }
}

// Controller
public function store(StoreUserRequest $request, UserService $service)
{
    return response()->json(
        $service->create($request->validated())
    );
}

---

🧱 Example 2: Filtering with if/foreach Soup

😵 Messy Code

$activeUsers = [];

foreach ($users as $user) {
    if ($user->is_active) {
        $activeUsers[] = $user;
    }
}

✅ Clean Code (Using Collection Pipeline)

$activeUsers = collect($users)->filter->is_active;

Or if you’re working with Eloquent:

$activeUsers = User::where('is_active', true)->get();

Laravel collections + Eloquent FTW.

---

🧱 Example 3: Boolean Checks in Views

😵 Messy Blade

@if($user->is_admin)
    <span class="badge bg-success">Admin</span>
@else
    <span class="badge bg-secondary">User</span>
@endif

✅ Clean Blade with Component or Enum

Use PHP 8.1+ enums for roles:

enum Role: string {
    case Admin = 'admin';
    case User = 'user';
}

And in Blade:

<x-badge :type="$user->role === Role::Admin ? 'success' : 'secondary'">
    {{ $user->role->name }}
</x-badge>

---

🧱 Example 4: Date Formatting Repeated Everywhere

😵 Messy Code

{{ \Carbon\Carbon::parse($user->created_at)->format('d M, Y') }}

✅ Clean Code with Accessor

// In User.php model
protected function createdAt(): Attribute
{
    return Attribute::make(
        get: fn($value) => \Carbon\Carbon::parse($value)->format('d M, Y'),
    );
}

Now in Blade:

{{ $user->created_at }}

Beautifully clean.

---

🧱 Example 5: Deep Nested Conditionals

😵 Messy Code

if ($user) {
    if ($user->is_active) {
        if (!$user->is_banned) {
            // do something
        }
    }
}

✅ Clean Code with Early Returns

if (!$user || !$user->is_active || $user->is_banned) {
    return;
}

// do something

Even better:

if ($user?->is_active && !$user->is_banned) {
    // do something
}

Laravel 12 + PHP 8.4 makes this easier with nullsafe and match expressions.

---

⚡ Bonus Tips: Laravel 12 + PHP 8.4 Goodies

✅ Read-only classes for DTOs:

readonly class CreateUserData {
    public function __construct(
        public string $name,
        public string $email,
        public string $password
    ) {}
}

✅ Match expressions over switch:

return match($status) {
    'active' => 'Active',
    'inactive' => 'Inactive',
    'banned' => 'Banned',
};

✅ Invokable Actions:

class SendWelcomeEmail {
    public function __invoke(User $user) { ... }
}

app(SendWelcomeEmail::class)($user);

✅ Higher-order pipelines:

$users = User::query()
    ->when($isAdmin, fn($q) => $q->where('role', 'admin'))
    ->get();

---

🧠 Final Thoughts

Just because your code works, doesn’t mean it’s good.

Clean code in Laravel 12 + PHP 8.4 is:

• ✨ Expressive

• 🧪 Testable

• 🧼 Maintainable

• 🚀 Scalable

If you liked this, share it or drop a comment!

Want a part 2 with clean test cases or API resource patterns? Just say the word.