60 Laravel Interview Questions and Answers

Laravel is a free, open-source PHP web application framework designed for developing web applications following the MVC architectural pattern. It features elegant syntax, robust tools, and extensive documentation.

Laravel routing handles HTTP requests by defining routes in routes/web.php or routes/api.php. Routes can be defined using methods like get(), post(), etc., and can include parameters, middleware, and route names.

Artisan is Laravel's command-line interface that provides helpful commands for development. It can generate boilerplate code, manage database migrations, handle queue workers, and create custom commands.

Migrations are like version control for databases, allowing you to define and modify database schema using PHP code. They make it easy to share and maintain database structure across team members.

Blade is Laravel's lightweight templating engine that provides convenient syntax for working with PHP in views. It includes features like template inheritance, sections, components, and directives.

Middleware acts as a filtering mechanism for HTTP requests entering your application. It can perform tasks like authentication, CSRF protection, or logging before the request reaches the route handler.

Controllers are classes that organize request handling logic. They group related request handling logic into a single class, making code organization cleaner and more maintainable.

Laravel provides built-in authentication features including login, registration, and password reset. It uses Guards for authentication and can be configured to use different authentication drivers.

Eloquent is Laravel's built-in ORM (Object-Relational Mapper) that makes it easy to interact with databases using PHP objects. It provides an ActiveRecord implementation for working with your database.

Facades provide static interface to classes available in Laravel's service container. They offer convenient syntax while maintaining testability and flexibility of the underlying class.

Seeders are classes used to populate database tables with sample or test data. They are useful for development and testing, ensuring consistent data across different environments.

Laravel offers various caching systems supporting different drivers (Redis, Memcached, file). It provides a unified API for storing and retrieving cached data regardless of the driver used.

Collections are wrappers around arrays that provide numerous helpful methods for working with data. They offer fluent, chainable operations like map, filter, reduce, and many more.

Laravel provides various approaches for validating application input data. It can be done in controllers, form requests, or manually, with built-in validation rules and custom rule creation.

Service Providers are central to Laravel's bootstrapping process. They register services, bind interfaces to implementations, and perform application bootstrapping tasks.

The service container is a powerful tool for managing class dependencies and injection. It automatically resolves classes with their dependencies, supports automatic injection through type-hinting, and allows binding interfaces to concrete implementations.

Laravel's Storage facade provides a unified API for various file systems (local, S3, etc.). It uses Flysystem for abstracting file operations, supports multiple disks, and handles file uploads, downloads, and manipulation efficiently.

Events and Listeners implement the observer pattern. Events represent actions in your app, while Listeners handle those actions. They help decouple logic, improve maintainability, and can be queued for better performance.

Jobs are tasks that can be queued for background processing. Laravel supports multiple queue drivers (database, Redis, etc.), job chaining, rate limiting, and failed job handling for robust background processing.

Laravel provides API resources for transforming models, API authentication via tokens/sanctum, rate limiting, versioning support, and automatic API documentation tools. It also includes API-specific routing and response formatting.

Contracts are interfaces defining core Laravel services. They ensure consistent implementation across different components, provide better documentation, and allow easy swapping of core services.

Macros allow extending Laravel's built-in classes with custom functionality. They can add methods to facades, collections, and other classes dynamically, enhancing Laravel's extensibility.

Laravel offers broadcasting system for real-time features using WebSockets. It integrates with Pusher, Redis, or Socket.io, supports private/presence channels, and handles authentication automatically.

Rate limiting controls request frequency to your application. Laravel provides middleware for limiting routes, supports different drivers, dynamic limits, and can be customized per user or IP.

Observers organize model event listeners in separate classes. They handle model events like created, updated, deleted, etc., helping keep model-related logic organized and maintainable.

Laravel supports various session drivers (file, database, Redis), offers encrypted cookie sessions, flash data, and custom session handlers. It provides middleware for session handling and configuration options.

Query scopes are reusable query constraints. Global scopes apply to all queries on a model, while local scopes are custom filtering methods that can be chained in queries for better code organization.

Socialite handles OAuth authentication with social providers. It supports major providers like Facebook, Twitter, Google, and can be extended for custom providers with consistent API implementation.

Laravel provides robust localization features including language files, middleware for setting locale, fallback languages, plural forms, and JSON translations for JavaScript-based translations.

Task Scheduler allows scheduling periodic tasks using cron expressions. It supports various task types, frequency methods, output handling, and can run tasks on specific conditions or environments.

Laravel Passport is a full OAuth2 server implementation that makes API authentication easy. It provides secure token-based authentication, supports multiple clients, refresh tokens, and scope-based permissions.

Custom guards extend Laravel's authentication system by creating new guard drivers. This involves implementing guard contracts, creating provider classes, and registering them in auth configuration.

Package development involves creating service providers, facades, configuration files, and following PSR-4 standards. Packages can be registered with Composer, use auto-discovery, and leverage Laravel's features.

Multi-tenancy can be implemented through database separation, schema separation, or row-level filtering. It requires custom middleware, database connection handling, and domain/subdomain routing.

Pipelines process objects through series of stages/transformations. Laravel uses them for middleware, job pipelines, and custom processing chains with through() and pipe() methods.

Repository pattern abstracts data layer, providing consistent API for data access. It separates business logic from data access, supports multiple data sources, and enables better testing.

Custom commands extend Command class, define signature/description, and handle logic in handle() method. They can accept arguments/options, interact with users, and use other Laravel features.

Advanced testing includes mocking facades/services, database transactions, custom assertions, parallel testing, and CI/CD integration. It covers unit, feature, and browser tests with tools like PHPUnit and Dusk.

Performance optimization includes route caching, config caching, composer autoloader optimization, queue workers, horizontal scaling, and proper cache usage with Redis/Memcached.

Laravel implements various patterns: Factory, Builder, Repository, Strategy, Observer, Decorator, etc. Understanding these helps in writing maintainable, scalable code.

Broadcasting uses drivers like Pusher/Redis to send server-side events to clients. It involves channels, authentication, client libraries, and can scale for real-time applications.

Microservices architecture involves API gateways, service discovery, inter-service communication, distributed tracing, and proper service boundaries using Laravel's features.

Horizon provides dashboard for Redis queues, monitors queue metrics, configures workers, handles failed jobs, and provides real-time insights into queue performance.

Complex transactions involve nested transactions, deadlock handling, isolation levels, and proper error handling. Laravel provides database transaction methods and callbacks.

Container bindings include singleton, instance, contextual binding, and tags. They control object lifecycle, resolve dependencies, and support interface implementations.

CQRS separates read/write operations using command/query buses, event sourcing, and separate read/write models. Laravel's bus dispatcher and events support this pattern.

Security features include CSRF protection, XSS prevention, SQL injection protection, content security policies, and encryption services with proper key management.

Distributed caching involves cache tags, atomic operations, race condition handling, and proper invalidation strategies using Redis/Memcached with Laravel's cache system.

Queue architecture supports multiple drivers, job retry/timeout, batch processing, rate limiting, and horizontal scaling with supervisor for production deployments.

Advanced validation includes custom rules, form requests, conditional validation, array validation, and API validation with proper error handling and localization.

API versioning strategies include URL versioning, header versioning, content negotiation, and proper documentation using tools like OpenAPI/Swagger with Laravel.

Advanced Eloquent features include polymorphic relations, lazy/eager loading, query caching, custom casts, and global scopes for complex database operations.

Concurrent request handling involves locks, atomic operations, race condition prevention, and proper cache/session handling in distributed environments.

Advanced middleware includes parameter manipulation, terminable middleware, middleware groups, and proper middleware ordering for complex request handling.

DDD in Laravel involves proper domain boundaries, value objects, entities, aggregates, and domain events using Laravel's features and proper architecture.

Advanced routing includes route model binding, subdomain routing, route caching, rate limiting, and proper route organization for large applications.

Large file operations involve streaming responses, chunked uploads, queue processing, and proper storage configuration using Laravel's filesystem abstraction.

Cache strategies include cache tags, cache locks, remember forever, atomic operations, and proper cache invalidation using Laravel's cache drivers.

Event sourcing stores all state changes as events, rebuilds state from events, and handles projections using Laravel's event system and custom implementations.

Authorization includes policies, gates, super admin privileges, resource authorization, and proper permission inheritance using Laravel's authorization features.