Laravel
Interview Questions

Middleware in Laravel provides a mechanism to filter HTTP requests entering the application. It can perform tasks such as authentication, logging, or modifying the request or response. Middleware is executed in the order they are registered, allowing developers to customize the request lifecycle.

Eloquent is Laravel's Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) system. It provides an expressive syntax to interact with the database using PHP objects instead of raw SQL queries. Eloquent simplifies tasks like querying, inserting, updating, and deleting records, making database interactions more intuitive.

Migrations in Laravel are a way to version-control the database schema. They allow developers to define changes to the database structure using PHP code instead of SQL. Migrations help in keeping the database schema consistent across development, testing, and production environments.

Laravel uses a routes file (web.php or api.php) to define URL routes. Named routes are used to give a name to a route, making it easier to reference in the application. Named routes are beneficial when generating URLs or redirects, providing a more maintainable and readable code.

Controllers in Laravel handle user requests and contain the logic to process those requests. They are responsible for interacting with models, fetching data, and returning a response, often in conjunction with views. Controllers follow the MVC pattern and help in organizing and separating concerns in a Laravel application.

Blade is Laravel's templating engine, providing a lightweight syntax for writing views. It is designed to be concise and expressive, with features like template inheritance, control structures, and partials. Blade templates are compiled into plain PHP code, offering better performance than some other templating engines.

Template inheritance in Blade allows developers to define a common layout (master template) and extend or override specific sections in child views. It promotes code reusability and helps in maintaining a consistent layout across multiple views.

Artisan is Laravel's command-line interface (CLI) tool. It provides a set of commands to perform various tasks such as database migrations, running tests, generating controllers, and more. Artisan helps automate common development tasks, improving developer productivity.

Laravel migrations are used to define and modify the structure of database tables. To create a new migration, you can use the make:migration Artisan command, specifying the name of the migration. The generated migration file allows you to define the schema changes using PHP code.

Laravel provides middleware like auth to handle authentication. By applying the auth middleware to routes, you can ensure that only authenticated users can access those routes. Laravel's authentication middleware is flexible and can be customized to suit specific authentication requirements.

Laravel Passport is an OAuth2 server implementation for API authentication. It provides a simple and convenient way to issue API tokens and authenticate users. Passport integrates with Eloquent, making it easy to issue tokens for users and clients.

PHPUnit is a testing framework for PHP, and it is used for writing unit tests in Laravel. Laravel comes with PHPUnit out of the box, and developers can use it to write tests for models, controllers, and other parts of the application. Laravel's testing features include methods for testing HTTP requests, database interactions, and more.

Laravel Dusk is an end-to-end testing tool for browser automation. It allows developers to write tests that simulate user interactions with the application in a real browser environment. Dusk simplifies the testing of JavaScript features, making it suitable for comprehensive testing of web applications.

Laravel protects against CSRF attacks by including a CSRF token in every form generated by the framework. The token is verified on form submissions, ensuring that the request is legitimate and originated from the correct source. Laravel's CSRF protection helps prevent malicious actions on behalf of authenticated users.

Laravel uses the Bcrypt hashing algorithm to securely hash user passwords. The framework automatically hashes passwords before storing them in the database. Additionally, Laravel provides a convenient API for password resets, which includes secure token generation and verification.