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5 Laravel Tricks That'll Make Your App Fly 🚀

•4 min read
laravelphpperformanceweb-dev

5 Laravel Tricks That'll Make Your App Fly 🚀

Is your Laravel app slower than a sleepy sloth on a Monday morning? Let's fix that!

Here are 5 performance tricks that are actually simple to implement. No rocket science, I promise!

1. Stop Making Your Database Cry 😭

The Problem: The dreaded N+1 query problem

Imagine asking someone 100 questions one at a time instead of asking all 100 at once. Annoying, right? Your database feels the same way!

Bad way:

// This runs 101 queries! 😱
$posts = Post::all();
foreach ($posts as $post) {
    echo $post->author->name; // Each loop hits the database!
}

Good way:

// This runs just 2 queries! 🎉
$posts = Post::with('author')->get();
foreach ($posts as $post) {
    echo $post->author->name; // Already loaded!
}

The magic word: with() - It's like meal prepping for your database queries!

2. Cache Everything (Well, Almost) 📦

In production, run these commands and watch your app speed up:

php artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache

What it does: Laravel stops reading files every single time and just uses the cached version.

When to run it: After deploying. Every. Single. Time.

Pro tip: Remember to clear cache when you change config! (Ask me how I know... 😅)

3. Don't Make Users Wait for Everything ⏰

The scenario: User signs up → You send welcome email → User waits... and waits...

The fix: Use queues!

// Before: User waits for email to send
Mail::to($user)->send(new WelcomeEmail());

// After: Email sends in background, user is happy
Mail::to($user)->queue(new WelcomeEmail());

One word change. Huge difference. That's the Laravel magic! ✨

Just remember: Set up your queue worker (Redis, database, whatever floats your boat)

4. Index Your Database (It's Not a Book, But Still) 📚

Your database without indexes is like trying to find a name in a phone book that's not alphabetized. Painful!

Schema::table('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->index('user_id');           // Single column
    $table->index(['status', 'published_at']);  // Multiple columns
});

When to add indexes:

  • Columns you search by
  • Foreign keys
  • Columns in WHERE clauses

Pro tip: Don't go crazy! Too many indexes can slow down writes. Balance, young Padawan!

5. Redis Is Your Friend (And It's Fast) ⚡

File cache is like storing stuff in your garage. Redis is like having a super-organized closet right next to you.

// Cache expensive operations
Cache::remember('popular_posts', 3600, function () {
    return Post::orderBy('views', 'desc')->take(10)->get();
});

Translation: Check cache first. If not there, run the query and cache the result for 1 hour.

Real talk: This can turn a 500ms query into a 5ms response. Yeah, it's that good!

Bonus Round: The Quick Wins 🎯

Use select() to fetch only what you need:

// Don't fetch everything if you only need name and email!
User::select('name', 'email')->get();

Use chunk() for big datasets:

// Process 1000 users at a time instead of loading 100k into memory
User::chunk(1000, function ($users) {
    // Do stuff with each chunk
});

Use eager loading counts:

// Get post count without loading all posts
$users = User::withCount('posts')->get();
echo $users->first()->posts_count; // No extra query!

The Performance Checklist ✅

Before you deploy:

  • Added with() for relationships (no N+1 queries)
  • Cached config, routes, and views
  • Moved slow tasks to queues
  • Added database indexes
  • Set up Redis (or at least tried to)
  • Tested on real data (not your 3 test users)

Real Talk 💬

Q: "Do I need all of this?"

A: Start with #1 and #2. They're the easiest and give you the biggest wins!

Q: "My app is still slow!"

A: Time to dig deeper! Use Laravel Debugbar or Telescope to find the bottleneck. It's probably a query you forgot to optimize (been there!).

Q: "What about Laravel Octane?"

A: That's the advanced stuff! Get these basics right first, then level up to Octane if you need more speed.

The Bottom Line

Performance optimization is like cleaning your room:

  1. Start with the biggest mess (N+1 queries)
  2. Organize what you use often (caching)
  3. Delegate what you can (queues)
  4. Make finding stuff easier (indexes)
  5. Upgrade your storage (Redis)

Your users will thank you with faster load times. Your database will thank you by not dying. Win-win!

Got questions? Drop them on LinkedIn. I've probably made the same mistakes! 😄

Want more Laravel tips? Star this blog repo on GitHub and stay tuned!

Now go make that app ZOOM! 🏎️💨

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