laravel-patterns

A service layer pattern moves business logic from controllers into dedicated service classes. Create services to handle core operations like employee management, then inject them into thin controllers that only manage HTTP requests and responses. This separation improves testability and maintainability across your Laravel application.

Use Form Requests to centralize validation rules and custom messages separate from controllers. Form Requests handle authorization and validation before data reaches your controller action, keeping controllers thin and validation logic reusable across your application.

Data Transfer Objects and Enums provide typed data contracts between controllers, services, and models. DTOs shape data moving through your application, while Enums represent fixed sets of values. Together they enforce type safety and make data flow explicit and testable.

Yes. Start by extracting business logic from controllers into services, then introduce Form Requests for validation and DTOs for data flow. Apply these patterns incrementally to new features or during refactoring. The patterns work with existing Eloquent models and relationships.

Thin controllers delegate business logic to services and only handle HTTP concerns like routing, validation dispatch, and responses. Fat controllers mix HTTP handling with business logic, making them harder to test and reuse. Service layer patterns enable thin controllers by providing a clear place for business logic.

Models define database structure and relationships; services orchestrate business operations using those models. Keep models focused on data representation and relationships while services handle complex workflows, transactions, and cross-model operations that keep your code clean and testable.