Best Practices Analyzers

15 analyzers ensuring you follow Laravel ecosystem best practices and framework conventions.

Overview

Best Practices analyzers focus on Laravel-specific patterns, framework conventions, and architectural best practices. These analyzers help ensure your code follows Laravel's intended usage patterns and prevents common mistakes that can lead to maintainability issues or performance problems.

Key Analyzers

Laravel Conventions

• Logic in Routes Analyzer - Detects business logic in route files
• Logic in Blade Analyzer - Detects complex logic in Blade templates
• Hardcoded Configuration Analyzer - Detects configuration values outside config files

Eloquent & Database

• Eloquent N+1 Query Analyzer - Detects N+1 query problems
• Missing Chunk Analyzer - Detects missing chunk() calls for large datasets
• Missing Database Transactions Analyzer - Detects operations that should use database transactions
• Mixed Query Builder and Eloquent Analyzer - Detects inconsistent query building patterns

Code Organization

• Fat Model Analyzer - Detects models with too much business logic that violate Single Responsibility Principle
• Service Container Resolution Analyzer - Detects manual service container resolution and recommends constructor dependency injection

Error Handling & Logging

• Silent Failure Analyzer - Detects empty catch blocks and error suppression that hide failures
• Missing Error Tracking Analyzer - Ensures error tracking is configured

Anti-Patterns

• Helper Function Abuse Analyzer - Detects overuse of global helper functions
• Hardcoded Storage Paths Analyzer - Detects hardcoded file paths
• PHP-Side Data Filtering Analyzer - Detects filtering that should be done in database
• Framework Override Analyzer - Detects dangerous extensions of Laravel core classes that break during framework upgrades

How They Work

Best Practices analyzers use:

1. Pattern Matching: Identifies Laravel-specific patterns and conventions
2. AST Analysis: Analyzes code structure to detect architectural violations
3. Query Analysis: Examines database queries for optimization opportunities
4. Convention Validation: Checks code against Laravel best practices

Severity Levels

Severity	Description	Examples
High	Issues that violate core Laravel principles	Logic in routes, N+1 queries, missing transactions
Medium	Issues that reduce maintainability	Fat models, hardcoded paths
Low	Best practice violations	Helper function abuse

Running Best Practices Analyzers

Run All Best Practices Analyzers

php artisan shield:analyze --category=best-practices

Run Specific Analyzer

php artisan shield:analyze --analyzer=eloquent-n-plus-one
php artisan shield:analyze --analyzer=missing-database-transactions
php artisan shield:analyze --analyzer=fat-model

Run Multiple Analyzers

php artisan shield:analyze --analyzer=eloquent-n-plus-one,missing-database-transactions,chunk-missing

Best Practices

Development

• Run best practices analyzers during code reviews
• Fix High severity issues before merging
• Use analyzers to learn Laravel conventions

Code Reviews

• Review best practices violations in pull requests
• Use violations as teaching opportunities
• Ensure new code follows Laravel patterns

Team Standards

• Agree on which best practices are mandatory
• Document team-specific conventions
• Use analyzers to maintain consistency across codebase

Related Categories

• Security Analyzers - Prevent security vulnerabilities
• Code Quality Analyzers - Maintain code quality standards
• Reliability Analyzers - Prevent runtime errors
• Performance Analyzers - Optimize application performance