Hi everyone,
If you love anything PHP then you've come to the right place. On our first newsletter for the love month we have articles on PHP Basics Every Laravel Beginner Should Know, Distinguishing Stubs from Mocks in Mockery, and Why Upgrading Your Server Won’t Fix Your Slow PHP App. In Podcasts we have new episodes from Laravel news where they discuss Boost skills, Statamic 6, and Livewire 4. No Compromises wants you to Stop doing math in your config files, while Jason Willems at The Changelog believes the tech monoculture is finally breaking. Finally in our Reading section we have articles on Debugging Laravel Beyond Localhost, Solving Flaky Session Tests in Laravel, and What If 80% of Your Workflow Code Shouldn’t Exist?
We have all that and more, so we do hope you enjoy this week's newsletter. If you have an article, tutorial or podcast that you would like to be featured in our newsletter, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].
All the best,
Adrian
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Articles
Killing the N+1 Problem in Laravel: From 120 Queries to 8 in 20 Minutes
he N+1 query problem silently destroys performance on list pages. Fix it with targeted eager loading (with()), SQL-side aggregates (withCount, withSum), and basic indexing. Measure with Debugbar/Telescope or EXPLAIN ANALYZE. This post shows you exactly how.
Why I Avoid PHP Traits (And What I Use Instead)
PHP traits are usually presented as a handy way to reuse code. In practice, they are one of the most tricky tools in PHP and they can easily break your architecture, your tests, and your code readability.
I Missed JavaScript Arrays… So I Rebuilt Them in PHP
Moving between JavaScript and PHP is fun... until you touch arrays. In JavaScript, chaining array methods feels natural: arr.map().filter().reduce() In PHP? You can do similar things, but it often feels fragmented, noisy, or less expressive.
PHP Basics Every Laravel Beginner Should Know
In this article, let’s quickly walk through the must-know PHP basics that will make Laravel feel smooth and intuitive.
Distinguishing Stubs from Mocks in Mockery
In modern unit testing, the clarity of your test code is just as important as the logic itself. For years, PHP developers using Mockery have relied on shouldReceive() as a "catch-all" for test doubles.
Why Upgrading Your Server Won’t Fix Your Slow PHP App
While I have years of experience in software development, I felt there was still a missing piece in my understanding. To fix this, I recently ventured into the realm of servers and DevOps.
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Tutorials and Talks
Creating a simple environment with Docker, PHP 8.4, Composer, Nginx, and MariaDB.
You've probably had trouble installing PHP extensions, configuring Nginx, or installing a database on your local machine, just like me; Docker can make your life much easier.
Debugging WordPress PHP Callbacks With Xdebug
Here's how to debug WordPress PHP callbacks like a pro using Xdebug.
Building a Synchronised Internet Radio System with PHP, JS, and Zero Streaming Infrastructure
In this article, I will walk you through the architecture, the sync algorithm that makes it work, and the pitfalls I encountered along the way.
Complete AI-Native Workflow for Backend (PHP)
This comprehensive guide establishes a production-ready AI-native workflow for backend fintech developers, emphasizing security, ACID compliance, and architectural integrity while leveraging AI to maximize productivity without compromising code quality.
JavaScript Obfuscation Causing AJAX Malfunction
The obfuscated JavaScript code present in the WordPress theme's index.php, header.php & functions.php files appears to be designed to disrupt AJAX functionality by degrading the usability of scripts and manipulating local storage items.
PHP Memory Management: How to Monitor Usage, Peaks, and Limits
In this guide, we’ll explain how to use built-in functions like memory_get_usage(), how to format the output into human-readable units (MB/KB), and how to adjust memory limits (memory_limit) to suit your environment.
Optimizing Magento Full Page Cache for View Models with Custom Cache Tags in Hyvä
Magento's full page cache significantly boosts performance. However, dynamic data rendered through view models can become stale if the cache isn't invalidated precisely.
Getting Started with MongoDB BulkWrite in PHP
In this guide, we will explore the MongoDB BulkWrite API and its performance improvements, and we’ll demonstrate how to handle mixed bulk operations with sample code using the PHP library.
Optimizing Hyva Theme Performance for Complex Magento 2 Integrations: Beyond Standard Practices
Experienced developers often face a critical challenge: maintaining this stellar performance when integrating complex third-party modules, custom functionalities, or undertaking extensive customizations that push the boundaries of a standard Hyva setup. |
News and Announcements
`hasSole()` Collection Method in Laravel 12.49.0
Laravel v12.49.0 introduces a new hasSole() collection method for checking if a collection contains exactly one matching item, along with subquery between columns support, fluent resource collection key preservation, and datetime support for the maintenance mode command.
NativePHP for Mobile Is Now Free
The NativePHP team has announced the immediate release of NativePHP Air and that NativePHP for Mobile is now completely free, alongside a host of platform and ecosystem features.
Livewire 4 and Blade Improvements in Laravel VS Code Extension v1.5.0
Laravel VS Code Extension v1.5.0 introduces enhanced support for Livewire 4 and Blade components. This release brings improved parsing, autocompletion, and intellisense for modern Livewire and Blade development workflows.
Statamic 6 Is Officially Released
Statamic 6 is now available, bringing a major update to the Laravel CMS with a redesigned control panel and a modernized frontend stack.
January 26 – February 1, 2026 - A Week of Symfony #996
This week, development activity focused on adding new features to the upcoming Symfony 8.1 version. Meanwhile, we published 5.4.51, 6.4.33, 7.3.11, 7.4.5, and 8.0.5 versions to address a potential security vulnerability. Finally, we published an article about hardening Symfony with recent security improvements.
Laracon EU 2026 - March 2-3, 2026 - Amsterdam
Get Inspired By Artisans Who Imagine, Build, Share, Ship;And Seriously Get Stuff Done.
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Podcasts and Vlogs
Laravel News: Boost skills, Statamic 6, and Livewire 4
Jake and Michael discuss all the latest Laravel releases, tutorials, and happenings in the community.
The Stack Overflow: Generating text with diffusion (and ROI with LLMs)
Two guests for the price of one! This episode has two interviews recorded at AWS re:Invent back in December.
No Compromises Podcast: Stop doing math in your config files
In the latest episode of the No Compromises podcast, we discuss why inline math in configuration values is a habit worth breaking.
Maintainable Podcast: Lucas Roesler: The Fast Feedback Loop Advantage
In this episode, Robby talks with Lucas Roesler, Managing Partner and CTO at Contiamo. Lucas joins from Berlin to unpack what maintainability looks like in practice when you are dealing with real constraints… limited context, missing documentation, and systems that resist understanding.
Software Engineering Radio: SE Radio 705: Murat Erder and Eoin Woods on Continuous Architecture
Murat Erder, CTO for Financial Services at Valtech in Europe, and Eoin Woods, independent consultant in the field of software architecture, join host Giovanni Asproni to talk about Continuous Architecture—an approach to software design where architectural decisions are made and refined continuously throughout the lifecycle of a system, instead of up front in a big design phase.
Developer Tea: The Meta-Habit of High Performers: How Outer Loops Unlock Growth (Career Growth Accelerator)
In today's episode, we are discussing one of the most common habits I see in high-performing managers and senior engineers. It isn't a single trick, a morning routine, or a specific productivity hack—it is a meta-habit.
Shoptalk Show: Popover Web Component, Bugs in Blocks, and Where’s Vue?
We're passing over another milestone episode and answering your Q's with our A's while we do it: Dave goes 3D printing, should CSS be inside a web component, Chris is trying to build web component for popovers, why isn't Vue used or talked about more, finding bugs in blocks in the new CodePen, and we're grateful for 700 episodes.
WP Builds: 454 – Innovative serverless solutions for WordPress with Carl Alexander and Paul Carter
In this episode, Nathan Wrigley talks with Carl Alexander, creator of Ymir (a scalable WordPress hosting technology), and Paul Carter from BuiltFast, about their new partnership.
PHP Architect: The PHP Podcast 2026.01.29
This week on the PHP Podcast, Eric and John talk about Git Worktrees, The future of MySQL, PHP RFC’s, and more.
Mostly Technical: 118: We’re Going To Europe
Ian and Aaron talk about the Mostly Technical Pre-Party at Laracon EU (!), Aaron's new desktop app (!!), sleeping on planes, and so much more.
Syntax: What’s Missing From the Web Platform?
Scott and Wes run through their wishlist for the web platform, digging into the UI primitives, DOM APIs, and browser features they wish existed (or didn’t suck).
The Changelog: The tech monoculture is finally breaking
Jason Willems believes the tech monoculture is finally breaking, Don Ho shares some bad Notepad++ news, Tailscale’s Avery Pennarun pens a great downtime apology, Milan Milanović explains why you can only code 4 hours per day, and Addy Osmani on managing comprehension debt when leaning on AI to code.
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How Web Applications Fail: An OWASP Top 10 Analysis Using Laravel and WordPress
The OWASP Top 10 highlights the most common categories of these failures and provides a practical framework for understanding how attackers abuse everyday application functionality.
Debugging Laravel Beyond Localhost
For years, my debugging workflow looked the same. Something breaks. I try to reproduce it locally. I add logs. I guess. Sometimes it works. Most of the time, it doesn’t.
Keep Code References Out of Your Migrations
Long story short, don't reference your business layer within migration files. Migrations should be immutable snapshots of your database history, never dependent on evolving application code.
PHP Associative Arrays: Mastering array_keys, foreach, and Search Functions
In PHP web development, you deal with complex associative arrays almost every day—whether they are database results or API responses.
Understanding Laravel's Mutex and WithoutOverlapping: Preventing Concurrent Command Execution
Have you ever run a Laravel Artisan command and seen the mysterious message "Has Mutex"? This article explains what mutex locks are, why Laravel uses them, and how to work with the withoutOverlapping() feature to prevent concurrent command execution.
Solving Flaky Session Tests in Laravel: From Chaos to Stability
Picture this: You're building a multi-tenant Laravel CRM with custom session tracking. You have a UserSession model that stores active company context, last activity, and device info. You write tests. They pass. You run them again. They fail. You run them a third time. They pass.
What If 80% of Your Workflow Code Shouldn’t Exist?
I’m going to make a claim: You don’t need a workflow. Not for order cancellation timeouts. Not for reminder emails. Probably not even for that multi-step process you’re sketching on a whiteboard. What you need is the right tool for the right job.
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Interesting Projects, Tools and Libraries
cpoint-eu/settings-bundle
Simple bundle that implements application settings doctrine entity, provider and factory for Symfony project.
souravmsh/laravel-widget
A Laravel package for building and bundling reusable UI widgets as Blade components.
commacode/laravel-zoom-integration
Zoom Meeting Integration for Laravel with automatic recording download and embedded viewing.
ghazym/laravel-module-suite
A comprehensive Laravel package for building modular applications with RBAC, media management, and API endpoints.
rize/uri-template
PHP URI Template (RFC 6570) supports both expansion & extraction.
revolt/event-loop
Rock-solid event loop for concurrent PHP applications.
cweagans/composer-patches
Provides a way to patch Composer packages.
symfony/rate-limiter
Provides a Token Bucket implementation to rate limit input and output in your application.
kirschbaum-development/eloquent-power-joins
The Laravel magic applied to joins.
socialiteproviders/manager
Easily add new or override built-in providers in Laravel Socialite.
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Jobs
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