Harris Raftopoulos - Senior Software Engineer

Harris Raftopoulos

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Latest — Jul 9, 2025

Laravel's UsePolicy Attribute: Explicit Policy Control

Ever needed to use a different policy than Laravel's naming convention suggests, or wanted to make policy assignments crystal clear in your codebase? The UsePolicy attribute solves both challenges elegantly. Convention vs. Explicit Declaration Laravel's policy auto-discovery follows a simple naming convention: a Post model automatically

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Laravel's --batched Flag: Instant Job Batching Setup

Laravel's make:job command now includes a --batched option that automatically scaffolds everything you need for job batching. Gone are the days of remembering which traits to import and which methods to implement. The Old Manual Process vs. The New Streamlined Approach Previously, setting up a batchable job

Laravel's New String Encryption Methods: Fluent Security Made Simple

String encryption in Laravel used to require breaking out of fluent chains or using verbose pipe() workarounds. The new encrypt() and decrypt() methods change that game completely. The Old Way vs. The New Way Previously, if you wanted to encrypt a string while maintaining a fluent chain, you had to

Laravel's assertRedirectToAction(): Clean Controller Action Redirect Testing

Testing redirects to specific controller actions used to require brittle URL matching, but Laravel's new assertRedirectToAction() method makes redirect assertions as clean as your route definitions. Writing robust tests for HTTP redirects has always presented a challenge: do you test against hardcoded URLs that break when routes change,

Laravel Context in Seeders: Clean Data Sharing Between Database Seeders

Database seeders often need to share created records, but traditional approaches lead to messy code and tight coupling. Laravel's Context provides a clean solution for seeder data flow. When building complex database seeders, you frequently encounter scenarios where later seeders need access to records created by earlier ones.

Laravel's toUri() Method: Fluent URI Building from Strings

Ever needed to extract a URL from text and dynamically modify it with query parameters? Laravel's new toUri() method transforms string manipulation into a fluent URI building experience. Working with URLs embedded in text content has traditionally been a tedious process involving regular expressions, string parsing, and manual

Laravel's Rule::contains() Method: Consistent Fluent Validation for Arrays

Laravel's validation system just got more consistent with the addition of Rule::contains() for arrays, matching the fluent interface pattern you're already familiar with from other validation rules. The Laravel ecosystem has always prioritized consistency and developer experience, and the new Rule::contains() method exemplifies this

Laravel's in_array_keys Rule: Flexible Array Key Validation Made Simple

Ever needed to validate that a configuration array contains at least one authentication method without requiring all of them? Laravel's new in_array_keys rule solves this exact problem. When building applications that handle multiple authentication methods or flexible configuration options, you often encounter scenarios where users must

Simplified Enum Handling with Default Values in Laravel

Laravel simplifies enum retrieval from requests with an enhanced enum() method that supports default values, making your code cleaner and more expressive. When working with enums in request data, you often need to provide fallback values when the enum parameter is missing or invalid. The enhanced enum() method now accepts

Parsing Localized Numbers with Laravel's Number Class

Need to parse localized numbers in your Laravel application? The Number class now includes parsing methods that handle locale-specific number formats using PHP's Intl extension. When working with international applications, you often receive number data in various locale-specific formats. Laravel's new parsing methods leverage PHP'

About

Harris Raftopoulos

Programming and Beyond: A Senior Software Engineer’s Journey with Laravel, Livewire and JavaScript

Topics

laravel

livewire

php

programming