# Naming Conventions The following is the generally accepted naming conventions being used by Laravel Community: **Controllers** **Controller name MUST start with a noun (in singular form) followed by the word “Controller”.** **Good** `class ArticleController extends Controller` `{ ...` **Bad** `class ArticlesController extends Controller` `{...` `class wp_articlesController extends Controller` `{` `class Article extends Controller` `{` **You SHOULD Use Resource Controllers unless you have any particular reason not to do so** **Good** `class DomainController extends Controller` `{` `public function index(){} // list domains` `public function create(){} // show create form` `public function store(Request $request){ } // handle the form POST` `public function show($id){} // show a single domain` `public function edit($id){} // show edit page` `public function update(Request $request, $id){} // handle show edit page POST` `public function destroy($id){} // delete a domain` `}` **Bad** `class DomainController extends Controller` `{` `public function list(){} // list domains` `public function create_or_save(){} // show create form then handle save` `public function show_edit($id){} // show a single domain then show edit page` `public function delete($id){} // delete a domain` `}` **Models** **Model names MUST be in singular form with its first letter in uppercase** **Good** `class Flight extends Model` `{` `...` **Bad** `class Flights extends Model` `{` `...` `class flight extends Model` `{` `...` **hasOne or belongsTo relationship methods MUST be in singular form** **Good** `class User extends Model` `{` `public function phone()` `{` `return $this->hasOne('App\Phone');` `}` `}` **Bad** `class User extends Model` `{` `public function phones()` `{` `return $this->hasOne('App\Phone');` `}` `}` **Any other relationships other than above MUST be in plural form** **Good** `class Post extends Model` `{` `public function comments()` `{` `return $this->hasMany('App\Comment');` `}` `}` **Bad** `class Post extends Model` `{` `public function comment()` `{` `return $this->hasMany('App\Comment');` `}` `}` **Model properties should be in snake\_case** **Good** `$user->created_at` **Bad** `$user->createdAt` **Methods should be in camelCase** **Good** `class User extends Model` `{` `public function scopePopular($query)` `{` `return $query->where('votes', '>', 100);` `}` **Bad** `class User extends Model` `{` `public function scope_popular($query)` `{` `return $query->where('votes', '>', 100);` `}` **Functions** Laravel comes with a lot of useful helper functions, but you can also define your own helper functions, given the following conditions: **You SHOULD place your custom helper functions by creating a file called helper.php** **Good** `project_folder/app/helper.php` `project_folder/app/Http/helper.php` **Bad** `project_folder/functions.php` **You MUST use Composer’s autoloading capability to load your functions** **Good** // file composer.json `...` `"autoload": {` `"files": [` `"app/helpers.php"` `],` `...` **Bad** `// file app/Http/Controllers/HomeController.php` `class HomeController.php` `{` `function index(){` `require_once(app_path("helpers.php"));` `}` `}` **You MUST check if the the function exists before defining it** **Good** `if (! function_exists('my_custom_helper')) {` `function my_custom_helper($key, $default = null) {` `// ...` `}` `}` **Bad** `function my_custom_helper($key, $default = null) {` `// ...` `}` **Other General guides with functions** * If the function length exceeds 25 lines, you SHOULD break it down to multiple functions * Each function SHOULD have a **Unit Test** associated with it **Routes** **Routes should be in plural form of the resource it is trying to manipulate and SHOULD be all lower-case** **Good** `Route::get('/users', 'UserController@index');` `Route::resource('photos', 'PhotoController');` **Bad** `Route::get('/user', 'UserController@index');` `Route::get('/UsersList', 'UserController@index');` `Route::resource('PHOTO', 'PhotoController');` **Named Routes SHOULD use snake\_case and dot notation** **Good** `Route::get('/user', 'UserController@active')->name('users.show_active');` **Bad** `Route::get('/user', 'UserController@active')->name('users.show-active');` `Route::get('/user', 'UserController@active')->name('show-active-users');` **Variables** **General rule for variable is it SHOULD be in camelCase** **Good** `$articlesWithAuthor` **Bad** `$articles_with_author` **Collection names SHOULD be descriptive and in plural form** **Good** `$activeUsers = User::active()->get()` **Bad** `$users = User::active()->get()` `$user = User::active()->get()` `$User = User::active()->get()` **Single Object SHOULD be descriptive and in singular form** **Good** `$activeUser = User::active()->first()` **Bad** `$users = User::active()->first()` **Views** **You SHOULD use snake\_case as file name of your Blade templates** **Good** `show_filtered.blade.php` **Bad** `showFiltered.blade.php` `show-filtered.blade.php` **You MUST not make non UI-related operations inside blade templates** **Good** // $api\_results is passed by controller `` **Bad** `@php` `$api_results = json_decode(file_get_contents("https://api.example.com"));` `@endphp` ``