Discover Everything New About The Latest Laravel 10

Laravel package upgrade

With the release of Laravel 10, both the framework and its official packages, as well as the ecosystem, are regularly updated and professionally maintained. Here is a list of the latest official Laravel packages that have been updated to be compatible with Laravel 10:

• Cashier Stripe

• Installer

• Passport

• Dusk

• Breeze

• Horizon

• Scout

• Pint

• Scout

• Valet

• Sail

Support of PHP 8.2

Although PHP 8.2 was released on December 8, 2022, which was just two months before the release of Laravel 10, there is no need to hesitate to use PHP 8.2 features because Laravel 10 is already compatible with PHP 8.2 without any additional adjustments.

Notably, the complete Laravel ecosystem, comprising Forge, Vapor, and Envoyer, is compatible with PHP 8.2, and it’s possible to use PHP 8.2 with Laravel 9 as well.

Native type declarations

Previously, in Laravel’s skeleton code, DocBlocks were employed to explain the purpose of a code snippet and the expected parameters or responses. However, with the introduction of native-type declarations in Laravel 10, this practice is set to be altered.

Illustrating this modification is best achieved through a straightforward example, wherein a function will not appear as follows:

Instead, it will look like this:

The intention behind this adjustment is to enhance the developer experience. By employing native types, IDEs will have insight into the expected parameter and response structure, resulting in improved type clarity beyond PHP’s inherent types. Consequently, code editors will be able to optimize their auto-complete functionality.

Predis version upgrade

To maximize caching capabilities and deliver exceptional user experiences, Predis serves as a sturdy Redis client for PHP. While Laravel once accommodated both versions 1 and 2, Predis 1 is no longer supported in Laravel 10.

Laravel’s documentation identifies Predis as the package for interacting with Redis, yet the official PHP extension is also a viable option. This extension offers an API for communication with Redis servers.

Native column modification support

Laravel 10 includes a new feature that enables developers to utilize the change() method to modify columns in MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server, without requiring the DBAL (doctrine/dbal) package. The motivation for this change is to eliminate the need for an extra package, even though it constitutes a substantial and potentially risky breaking change. Nevertheless, the benefits of the modification are considered valuable.

Quick hashing algorithm

xxHash is a Hash algorithm that operates at exceptional speed while producing output with excellent randomness, dispersion, and uniqueness to minimize collisions. As PHP 8.1 now supports xxh128, and Laravel 10 is compatible with PHP 8.1, having a dependable hash algorithm like xxHash within Laravel 10 is optimal.

It’s worth mentioning that specific third-party packages rely on the file names being in the precise format of the SHA-1 hash, the algorithm previously employed by Laravel for hashing. That means, if you are upgrading to the latest Laravel 10, it would be a good idea to check this in any third-party packages that you might be using in your app.

Security improvement for Timebox class

Laravel 10 introduces security enhancements for the Timebox class, designed to protect the application against timeless timing attacks. The hasValidCredentials method utilizes the Timebox Class, which now incorporates support for managing exceptions that occur during a Timebox’s callback execution.

Eager loading optimization

Laravel 10 presents an intriguing improvement related to eager loading optimization, which is particularly relevant when there are no keys to be loaded. Although this adjustment might seem more like a fix than a feature, it addresses a pre-existing problem where eager loading relations would lead to an excessive number of infeasible queries being executed.

At present, Laravel executes a query even when eager-loading relations that lack any keys to be loaded like this:

The latest Laravel 10 update includes a check to confirm if any keys are present before proceeding with eager loading. If no keys exist, an empty collection is provided, which eliminates the necessity for superfluous database queries.

Column type native retrieval

Laravel 10 introduces a useful capability that enables the use of the Schema::getColumnType method without relying on the doctrine/dbal package. In the present scenario, we utilize Schema::getColumnType in conjunction with DBAL to retrieve the column type. However, as DBAL maps each native column type to its DBAL type equivalent, it doesn’t support several column types used by Laravel in different databases.

The new feature in Laravel 10, the Schema::getColumnType method, differs from its DBAL equivalent in that it returns the actual column type. Additionally, this feature allows you to create integration tests for the new native column modifying capability. You can also use this feature to get the data type name or the whole type definition of the defined column:

Prerequisite

To upgrade to Laravel 10 from Laravel 9, these crucial requirements must be met:

• The Laravel application should be using version 9 or higher.

• The server should have PHP 8.1 or a higher version installed.

Or you can just hire Laravel developers, simple!

Fundamental upgrades

The Shift tool automates several of the upgrades described in the Laravel upgrade guide including:

• New methods introduced for modifications made to interfaces

• Modifications made to the fundamental project files of Laravel

• Eliminating unnecessary typing with PHP DocBlocks

• Detection of deprecated code

• Converting deprecated $dates property to $casts

• Adding PHP-type hints to the app

Manual upgrades

The goal of Laravel 10.x Shift is to automate most of the upgrades, but there could be some updates that can’t be automated. If this happens, the tool identifies these updates and gives detailed instructions in the form of comments in the pull request. These instructions outline the required steps for manual implementation.

Despite the efforts made by the Shift to automatically detect and implement upgrades for widely used dependencies, some upgrades may still require manual intervention. To ensure a smooth upgrade, it is advisable to carefully review the changelog for dependencies and any other modifications.