Benjamin Franklin once said —
A place for everything, everything in its place.
This applies to software development as well. Understanding which portion of the code goes where is the key to a maintainable code base.
Laravel being an elegant web framework, comes with a pretty organized directory structure by default but still I've seen a lot of people suffer.
Don't get me wrong. It's a no brainer that controllers go inside the controllers directory, no confusions whatsoever. The thing people often confuse themselves with is, what to write in a controller and what not to.
Table of Content
- Project Codes
- The Scenario
- Understanding Business Logic
- Service Classes to the Rescue
- Action Re-usability
- Closing Thoughts
Project Codes
You can find an implementation of the service discussed in this article in the following repository:
fhsinchy / laravel-livewire-shopping-cart
A real-time shopping cart powered by Laravel, Livewire and TailwindCSS
Apart from Laravel, the project makes use of Livewire and TailwindCSS.
The Scenario
Take the following piece of code for example:
<?php namespace AppHttpControllers; use IlluminateHttpRequest; class CartItemController extends Controller { /** * Display a listing of the resource. * * @return IlluminateHttpResponse */ public function index() { $content = session()->has('cart') ? session()->get('cart') : collect([]); $total = $content->reduce(function ($total, $item) { return $total += $item->get('price') * $item->get('quantity'); }); return view('cart.index', [ 'content' => $content, 'total' => $total, ]); } /** * Store a newly created resource in storage. * * @param IlluminateHttpRequest $request * @return IlluminateHttpResponse */ public function store(Request $request) { $request->validate([ 'name' => 'required|string', 'price' => 'required|numeric', 'quantity' => 'required|integer', ]); $cartItem = collect([ 'name' => $request->name, 'price' => floatval($request->price), 'quantity' => intval($request->quantity), 'options' => $request->options, ]); $content = session()->has('cart') ? session()->get('cart') : collect([]); $id = request('id'); if ($content->has($id)) { $cartItem->put('quantity', $content->get($id)->get('quantity') + $request->quantity); } $content->put($id, $cartItem); session()->put('content', $content); return back()->with('success', 'Item added to cart'); } /** * Display the specified resource. * * @param int $id * @return IlluminateHttpResponse */ public function show($id) { $content = session()->get('cart'); if ($content->has($id)) { $item = $content->get($id); return view('cart', compact('item')); } return back()->with('fail', 'Item not found'); } /** * Update the specified resource in storage. * * @param IlluminateHttpRequest $request * @param int $id * @return IlluminateHttpResponse */ public function update(Request $request, $id) { $content = session()->get('cart'); if ($content->has($id)) { $cartItem = $content->get($id); switch ($request->action) { case 'plus': $cartItem->put('quantity', $content->get($id)->get('quantity') + 1); break; case 'minus': $updatedQuantity = $content->get($id)->get('quantity') - 1; if ($updatedQuantity < 1) { $updatedQuantity = 1; } $cartItem->put('quantity', $updatedQuantity); break; } $content->put($id, $cartItem); session()->put('cart', $content); return back()->with('success', 'Item updated in cart'); } return back()->with('fail', 'Item not found'); } /** * Remove the specified resource from storage. * * @param int $id * @return IlluminateHttpResponse */ public function destroy($id) { $content = session()->get('cart'); if ($content->has($id)) { session()->put('cart', $content->except($id)); return back()->with('success', 'Item removed from cart'); } return back()->with('fail', 'Item not found'); } } This is a controller from an imaginary e-commerce project, responsible for managing the shopping cart. Although this is a perfectly valid piece of code, there are some problems.
The controller also knows too much. Look at the index method for example. It doesn't need to know whether the cart content comes from the session or database. Neither does it need to know how to calculate the total price of the cart items.
A controller should be only responsible for transporting requests and responses. The inner details aka the business logic should be handled by other classes in the server.
Understanding Business Logic
As explained in this thread:
Business logic or domain logic is that part of the program which encodes the real-world business rules that determine how data can be created, stored, and changed. It prescribes how business objects interact with one another, and enforces the routes and the methods by which business objects are accessed and updated.
In case of a simple shopping cart system, the business logic behind adding an item to cart can be described as follows:
- Take necessary product information (id, name, price, quantity) as input.
- Validate the input data.
- Form a new cart item.
- Check if the item already exists in the cart.
- If yes, update it's quantity and if no, add the newly formed item to cart.
Now lets have a look at the store method:
/** * Store a newly created resource in storage. * * @param IlluminateHttpRequest $request * @return IlluminateHttpResponse */ public function store(Request $request) { // validate the input data. $request->validate([ 'name' => 'required|string', 'price' => 'required|numeric', 'quantity' => 'required|integer', ]); // form a new cart item. $cartItem = collect([ 'name' => $request->name, 'price' => floatval($request->price), 'quantity' => intval($request->quantity), 'options' => $request->options, ]); // check if the item already exists in the cart. $content = session()->has('cart') ? session()->get('cart') : collect([]); $id = request('id'); if ($content->has($id)) { // if yes, update it's quantity $cartItem->put('quantity', $content->get($id)->get('quantity') + $request->quantity); } // if no, add the newly formed item to cart. $content->put($id, $cartItem); $this->session->put('content', $content); return back()->with('success', 'Item added to cart'); } As you can see, the business logic translates to code pretty accurately. Now the problem is, controllers are not meant to contain business logic.
Service Classes to the Rescue
According to the very popular alexeymezenin/laravel-best-practices repository:
The idea of service classes is not something built into the framework or documented in the official docs. As a result, different people refer to them differently. At the end of the day, service classes are plain classes responsible for holding the business logic.
A service class for holding the shopping cart related business logic can be as follows:
<?php namespace AppServices; use IlluminateSupportCollection; use IlluminateSessionSessionManager; class CartService { const MINIMUM_QUANTITY = 1; const DEFAULT_INSTANCE = 'shopping-cart'; protected $session; protected $instance; /** * Constructs a new cart object. * * @param IlluminateSessionSessionManager $session */ public function __construct(SessionManager $session) { $this->session = $session; } /** * Adds a new item to the cart. * * @param string $id * @param string $name * @param string $price * @param string $quantity * @param array $options * @return void */ public function add($id, $name, $price, $quantity, $options = []): void { $cartItem = $this->createCartItem($name, $price, $quantity, $options); $content = $this->getContent(); if ($content->has($id)) { $cartItem->put('quantity', $content->get($id)->get('quantity') + $quantity); } $content->put($id, $cartItem); $this->session->put(self::DEFAULT_INSTANCE, $content); } /** * Updates the quantity of a cart item. * * @param string $id * @param string $action * @return void */ public function update(string $id, string $action): void { $content = $this->getContent(); if ($content->has($id)) { $cartItem = $content->get($id); switch ($action) { case 'plus': $cartItem->put('quantity', $content->get($id)->get('quantity') + 1); break; case 'minus': $updatedQuantity = $content->get($id)->get('quantity') - 1; if ($updatedQuantity < self::MINIMUM_QUANTITY) { $updatedQuantity = self::MINIMUM_QUANTITY; } $cartItem->put('quantity', $updatedQuantity); break; } $content->put($id, $cartItem); $this->session->put(self::DEFAULT_INSTANCE, $content); } } /** * Removes an item from the cart. * * @param string $id * @return void */ public function remove(string $id): void { $content = $this->getContent(); if ($content->has($id)) { $this->session->put(self::DEFAULT_INSTANCE, $content->except($id)); } } /** * Clears the cart. * * @return void */ public function clear(): void { $this->session->forget(self::DEFAULT_INSTANCE); } /** * Returns the content of the cart. * * @return IlluminateSupportCollection */ public function content(): Collection { return is_null($this->session->get(self::DEFAULT_INSTANCE)) ? collect([]) : $this->session->get(self::DEFAULT_INSTANCE); } /** * Returns total price of the items in the cart. * * @return string */ public function total(): string { $content = $this->getContent(); $total = $content->reduce(function ($total, $item) { return $total += $item->get('price') * $item->get('quantity'); }); return number_format($total, 2); } /** * Returns the content of the cart. * * @return IlluminateSupportCollection */ protected function getContent(): Collection { return $this->session->has(self::DEFAULT_INSTANCE) ? $this->session->get(self::DEFAULT_INSTANCE) : collect([]); } /** * Creates a new cart item from given inputs. * * @param string $name * @param string $price * @param string $quantity * @param array $options * @return IlluminateSupportCollection */ protected function createCartItem(string $name, string $price, string $quantity, array $options): Collection { $price = floatval($price); $quantity = intval($quantity); if ($quantity < self::MINIMUM_QUANTITY) { $quantity = self::MINIMUM_QUANTITY; } return collect([ 'name' => $name, 'price' => $price, 'quantity' => $quantity, 'options' => $options, ]); } } As I've already said, service classes are not something built into the framework hence there is no artisan make command for creating a service class. You keep the classes anywhere you like. I'm keeping my classes inside App/Services directory.
The CartService.php file contains both public and protected methods. The public methods named add(), remove(), update(), clear() are responsible for adding item to cart, removing item from cart, updating cart item quantity and clearing the cart respectively.
The other public methods are content() and total() responsible for returning the cart content and total price of added items respectively.
Finally the protected methods getContent() and createCartItem() are responsible for returning cart content within the class methods and forming a new cart item from the received parameters.
Now that the service class is ready, you need to use it inside the controller. To utilize the service class inside the CartItemController.php file, the code needs to be updated as follows:
<?php namespace AppHttpControllers; use IlluminateHttpRequest; use AppServicesCartService; use AppHttpRequestsCartItemRequest; class CartItemController extends Controller { protected $cartService; /** * Instantiate a new controller instance. * * @return void */ public function __construct(CartService $cartService) { $this->cartService = $cartService; } /** * Display a listing of the resource. * * @return IlluminateHttpResponse */ public function index() { $content = $this->cartService->content(); $total = $this->cartService->total(); return view('cart.index', [ 'content' => $content, 'total' => $total, ]); } /** * Store a newly created resource in storage. * * @param AppHttpRequestsCartItemRequest $request * @return IlluminateHttpResponse */ public function store(CartItemRequest $request) { $this->cartService->add($request->id, $request->name, $request->price, $request->quantity, $request->options); return back()->with('success', 'Item added to cart'); } /** * Display the specified resource. * * @param int $id * @return IlluminateHttpResponse */ public function show($id) { $content = $this->cartService->content(); $item = $content->get($id); return view('cart', compact('item')); } /** * Update the specified resource in storage. * * @param IlluminateHttpRequest $request * @param int $id * @return IlluminateHttpResponse */ public function update(Request $request, $id) { $this->cartService->update($id, $request->id); return back()->with('success', 'Item updated in cart'); } /** * Remove the specified resource from storage. * * @param int $id * @return IlluminateHttpResponse */ public function destroy($id) { $this->cartService->remove($id); return back()->with('success', 'Item removed from cart'); } } Thanks to zero configuration resolution, the service container resolves any class that doesn't depend on any interface automatically. Hence simply injecting the CartService in the controller constructor does the trick:
class CartItemController extends Controller { protected $cartService; /** * Instantiate a new controller instance. * * @return void */ public function __construct(CartService $cartService) { $this->cartService = $cartService; } } Now an instance of the CartService class becomes available within the controller and can be accessed as $this->cartService property. Rest of the controller action have been updated to make use of the service and as you can see, the controller has become much cleaner now.
Action Re-usability
Apart from making the controller cleaner, you also get the benefit of the shopping cart related actions being accessible from anywhere. Consider the following livewire component for example:
<?php namespace AppHttpLivewire; use AppFacadesCart; use LivewireComponent; use IlluminateContractsViewView; class ProductComponent extends Component { public $product; public $quantity; /** * Mounts the component on the template. * * @return void */ public function mount(): void { $this->quantity = 1; } /** * Renders the component on the browser. * * @return IlluminateContractsViewView */ public function render(): View { return view('livewire.product'); } /** * Adds an item to cart. * * @return void */ public function addToCart(): void { Cart::add($this->product->id, $this->product->name, $this->product->unit_price, $this->quantity); $this->emit('productAddedToCart'); } } You can add, remove, update or clear the shopping cart from anywhere. Prior to the service class implementation, the only way to manage the cart was through HTTP requests. Now you can even manage the cart through artisan commands.
Closing Thoughts
The concept of service classes discussed in this article is nothing concrete and I'm not claiming it to be a silver bullet. It's something that I've used in the past and have had no problem whatsoever. As long as you're thoughtful about using these classes and not overdoing it, you should be good to go.