Active Record: Laravel design pattern.
Tags: laravel, backend, designpatterns, fullstack
Published: 2023-06-06 17:48:45

The "Active Record" pattern is not native to Laravel, but can be implemented using Eloquent models, Laravel's built-in ORM (Object-Relational Mapping).

The Active Record pattern combines business logic and data manipulation in a single class, where each instance of the class represents a row in the database. In Laravel, Eloquent models provide a convenient way to implement this pattern.

Here is a basic example of how to implement the Active Record pattern in Laravel using Eloquent models:

- Create a new model by running the following command in the terminal:

```
`php artisan make:model Car`
```

This will generate a model file in the "app" folder of your Laravel project.

- Open the generated model file and make sure that it is in the correct namespace and extends the class **Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model.**

{% embed https://gist.github.com/Diego-18/d958ebbe25c800b59ad301721bf65244 %}

- You can now use your model elsewhere in your application to interact with the database. For example, you can create, update, delete or query records.

{% embed https://gist.github.com/Diego-18/3abeaf0914e4fbc6f2b45a3cf531ebb7 %}

This is just a basic example of how you can use the Active Record pattern using Eloquent models in Laravel. You can extend the functionality of your models by adding relationships, validations and business logic as needed.

## Advantages and Disadvantages of using this design pattern.

## Advantages:

- **Simplicity:** 

The Active Record pattern combines business logic and data manipulation in a single class, which makes code easier to understand and maintain. In Laravel, Eloquent models provide a simple and straightforward implementation of the Active Record pattern.


- **Direct database access:** 

Active Record models provide methods and properties to directly access data in the database. This makes it easy to perform CRUD operations (create, read, update, delete) without having to write SQL queries manually without using an additional abstraction layer.


- **Additional Eloquent features:** 

Eloquent, Laravel's ORM, offers additional features such as model relationships, methods to perform complex queries, data validation mechanisms and event handling. These functionalities facilitate data manipulation and interaction with the database.

## Disadvantages:

- **Coupling:** 

By combining business logic and data manipulation in a single class, it can generate strong coupling between the data layer and the business layer. This can make reuse and unit testing of business logic difficult, since the models are tightly coupled to the database structure.

- **Limitations in complex cases:** 

As the complexity of relationships and operations between database objects and tables increases, the Active Record pattern can become limiting. It may require additional logic or custom SQL queries to address more complex cases, which could mean partially abandoning the Active Record pattern. In these cases, it may be necessary to use other techniques, such as the Repository design pattern, to separate data access and business logic responsibilities.

- **Database maintenance:** 

If changes are made to the database structure, such as adding or removing columns, modifications may need to be made to the corresponding Active Record patterns. This can be a challenge in large, complex projects where there are multiple models and interdependent relationships.


```

```

In summary, the Active Record design pattern in Laravel offers simplicity and direct accessibility to the database, but can lead to coupling and difficulties in more complex situations. In such cases, other design patterns may be preferred, such as the Repository pattern or the Data Mapper pattern, which focus on separation of responsibilities and flexibility in data manipulation. It is important to evaluate the specific needs and characteristics of your project before deciding which design pattern to use.