Laravel repositories — Do you really need them?

If you’re developing Laravel, you’ve probably come across Repositories when contributing to an open source project, seeing it in the demo, or searching for a bug fix. They’re widely used to abstract the data layer and organize code better. Is this really needed in every Laravel project? I’m personally not a huge fan of repositories, especially in small to medium-sized projects. From my experience, repositories tend to introduce unnecessary complexity and scatter code through extra layers and directories that, in my opinion, don’t always add significant value. In simpler applications, where the database interaction is relatively straightforward, I believe repositories can overcomplicate things, leading to more files and potentially more confusion for developers coming onto the project later. However, I can see how repositories are beneficial for larger, more complex applications, where the need for scalability and testing is more prominent. Let’s take a closer look at Laravel’s repositories, what they are, and whether they are worth implementing. Repositories can certainly bring benefits like better testability and cleaner code. However, they’re not always the right tool for every job. Laravel repositories — Do you really need them? | by Hamza Sehouli | Feb, 2025 | Medium If you’re developing Laravel, you’ve probably come across Repositories when contributing to an open source project, seeing it in the demo… medium.com

Apr 3, 2025 - 06:08

Laravel repositories — Do you really need them?

If you’re developing Laravel, you’ve probably come across Repositories when contributing to an open source project, seeing it in the demo, or searching for a bug fix. They’re widely used to abstract the data layer and organize code better. Is this really needed in every Laravel project?

I’m personally not a huge fan of repositories, especially in small to medium-sized projects. From my experience, repositories tend to introduce unnecessary complexity and scatter code through extra layers and directories that, in my opinion, don’t always add significant value.

In simpler applications, where the database interaction is relatively straightforward, I believe repositories can overcomplicate things, leading to more files and potentially more confusion for developers coming onto the project later. However, I can see how repositories are beneficial for larger, more complex applications, where the need for scalability and testing is more prominent.

Let’s take a closer look at Laravel’s repositories, what they are, and whether they are worth implementing. Repositories can certainly bring benefits like better testability and cleaner code. However, they’re not always the right tool for every job.

Laravel repositories — Do you really need them? | by Hamza Sehouli | Feb, 2025 | Medium

If you’re developing Laravel, you’ve probably come across Repositories when contributing to an open source project, seeing it in the demo…

medium.com