Laravel 12 Preview Features

Laravel 12 continues the framework's evolution with modern PHP features and improved developer experience. Based on early development and community discussions, here's what we expect. At ZIRA Software, we're preparing projects for the upgrade.

Expected Timeline

Laravel 12 Timeline (Expected)
├── Q1 2025: Development begins
├── Q2 2025: Beta releases
├── Q3 2025: Release candidates
└── Q4 2025: Stable release

PHP 8.3 Minimum Requirement

// PHP 8.3 features in Laravel 12

// Typed class constants
class Order
{
    public const string STATUS_PENDING = 'pending';
    public const string STATUS_COMPLETED = 'completed';
}

// json_validate() built-in
if (json_validate($input)) {
    $data = json_decode($input);
}

// Improved readonly properties
readonly class UserDTO
{
    public function __construct(
        public string $name,
        public string $email,
        public ?string $phone = null,
    ) {}
}

// Dynamic class constant fetch
$status = Order::{$statusName};

Expected Performance Improvements

Laravel 12 Performance Targets
├── 15% faster route resolution
├── Reduced memory footprint
├── Improved Eloquent hydration
├── Better JIT optimization
└── Enhanced Octane integration

// Potential: Native async support
// Note: Speculative based on PHP roadmap

async function fetchUserData(int $userId): Promise<User>
{
    $user = await User::findAsync($userId);
    $posts = await $user->posts()->getAsync();

    return $user;
}

Enhanced Artisan Experience

# Expected: Interactive Artisan improvements
php artisan make:model Product --interactive

# Guided prompts for:
# - Table name
# - Relationships
# - Fillable fields
# - Casts
# - Factory generation

# Expected: AI-assisted generation
php artisan make:controller --ai "CRUD for e-commerce products with categories"

Improved Testing Tools

// Expected: Enhanced test assertions
class OrderTest extends TestCase
{
    public function test_order_total_calculation(): void
    {
        $order = Order::factory()
            ->hasItems(3)
            ->create();

        // New fluent assertions
        $order->assertTotalEquals(150.00)
            ->assertHasItems(3)
            ->assertStatus('pending');
    }

    // Snapshot testing built-in
    public function test_api_response(): void
    {
        $response = $this->getJson('/api/products');

        $response->assertMatchesSnapshot();
    }
}

Database Improvements

// Expected: Improved migration syntax
return new class extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        Schema::create('products', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->id();
            $table->string('name');
            $table->money('price'); // New money column type
            $table->vector('embedding', 1536); // Native vector support
            $table->timestamps();

            // Improved constraint syntax
            $table->check('price > 0', 'price_positive');
        });
    }
};

// Expected: Query builder improvements
$products = Product::query()
    ->whereJsonPath('metadata.tags', 'contains', 'featured')
    ->withVectorSearch('embedding', $queryVector)
    ->paginate();

Enhanced Configuration

// Expected: Improved config management
// config/app.php with validation

return Config::define([
    'name' => Config::string()->required(),
    'env' => Config::enum(['local', 'staging', 'production']),
    'debug' => Config::boolean()->default(false),
    'url' => Config::url()->required(),
    'timezone' => Config::timezone()->default('UTC'),
]);

// Runtime validation of environment variables

Reverb 2.0 Integration

// Expected: Deeper Reverb integration
// config/broadcasting.php

'reverb' => [
    'driver' => 'reverb',
    'cluster' => env('REVERB_CLUSTER', 'default'),
    'auto_discovery' => true, // New: Auto-discover events
    'compression' => true, // New: WebSocket compression
    'metrics' => [
        'enabled' => true,
        'driver' => 'pulse',
    ],
],

// Enhanced presence channels
Broadcast::channel('chat.{roomId}', function ($user, $roomId) {
    return [
        'id' => $user->id,
        'name' => $user->name,
        'status' => $user->status, // Real-time status sync
    ];
}, ['presence' => true, 'auth' => 'sanctum']);

Preparation Checklist

# Prepare for Laravel 12

# 1. Ensure PHP 8.3+ compatibility
php -v

# 2. Update dependencies
composer update

# 3. Run static analysis
./vendor/bin/phpstan analyse

# 4. Check deprecated usage
php artisan deprecation:check

# 5. Review custom service providers
# - Ensure proper typing
# - Remove deprecated methods

# 6. Update testing suite
# - Modern PHPUnit version
# - Pest compatibility

Migration Considerations

// Potential breaking changes to watch:

// 1. Stricter type checking
public function handle(Request $request): Response // Return type required

// 2. Deprecated method removal
// Collection::pluck() changes
// Query builder adjustments

// 3. Configuration changes
// New structure for some configs
// Environment variable naming

Conclusion

Laravel 12 promises modern PHP features, improved performance, and enhanced developer experience. Start preparing by ensuring PHP 8.3 compatibility and reviewing deprecated code.

Planning Laravel 12 upgrade? Contact ZIRA Software for migration assistance.