Laravel 8 Features Guide

Laravel 8 modernizes development patterns. Class-based model factories improve testing, job batching enables complex workflows, and enhanced rate limiting protects APIs.

New Model Factories

Before Laravel 8:

$factory->define(User::class, function (Faker $faker) {
    return [
        'name' => $faker->name,
        'email' => $faker->unique()->safeEmail,
    ];
});

Laravel 8:

php artisan make:factory UserFactory --model=User

// database/factories/UserFactory.php
namespace Database\Factories;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\Factory;

class UserFactory extends Factory
{
    public function definition()
    {
        return [
            'name' => $this->faker->name(),
            'email' => $this->faker->unique()->safeEmail(),
        ];
    }

    public function admin()
    {
        return $this->state(function (array $attributes) {
            return ['role' => 'admin'];
        });
    }
}

Usage:

User::factory()->count(10)->create();
User::factory()->admin()->create();

Job Batching

use Illuminate\Bus\Batch;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Bus;

$batch = Bus::batch([
    new ProcessOrder($order1),
    new ProcessOrder($order2),
    new ProcessOrder($order3),
])->then(function (Batch $batch) {
    // All jobs completed successfully
})->catch(function (Batch $batch, Throwable $e) {
    // First batch job failure detected
})->finally(function (Batch $batch) {
    // Batch has finished executing
})->dispatch();

return $batch->id;

Rate Limiting

use Illuminate\Cache\RateLimiting\Limit;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\RateLimiter;

RateLimiter::for('api', function (Request $request) {
    return Limit::perMinute(60)->by($request->user()?->id ?: $request->ip());
});

// Per-route limits
Route::middleware('throttle:api')->group(function () {
    Route::apiResource('posts', PostController::class);
});

Conclusion

Laravel 8 refines development experience with modern factories, powerful job batching, and flexible rate limiting.

Upgrading to Laravel 8? Contact ZIRA Software for migration assistance.