Creating A Laravel CRUD Application With The Repository Pattern

Laravel is a powerful PHP framework that simplifies web application development. When building a CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) application, using the Repository Pattern can make your code cleaner, more maintainable, and easier to test. In this blog, we'll guide you through setting up a Laravel project with the Repository Pattern for a CRUD operation.

Project Structure

laravel-crud-repository/
│── app/
│   ├── Http/
│   │   ├── Controllers/
│   │   │   ├── ProductController.php
│   ├── Models/
│   │   ├── Product.php
│   ├── Providers/
│   │   ├── RepositoryServiceProvider.php
│   ├── Repositories/
│   │   ├── Interfaces/
│   │   │   ├── ProductRepositoryInterface.php
│   │   ├── Eloquent/
│   │   │   ├── ProductRepository.php
│── database/
│   ├── migrations/
│   │   ├── xxxx_xx_xx_create_products_table.php
│── routes/
│   ├── api.php
│── .env
│── composer.json
│── artisan

Step 1: Install Laravel

If you haven't installed Laravel yet, run the following command to create a new Laravel project:

composer create-project laravel/laravel laravel-crud-repository
cd laravel-crud-repository

composer create-project laravel/laravel laravel-crud-repository
cd laravel-crud-repository

Step 2: Configure Database

Update your .env file with your database credentials:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=crud_repository
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

Run migrations to set up the database:

php artisan migrate

Step 3: Create a Model and Migration

Generate a model with migration for a sample entity, like Product:

php artisan make:model Product -m

Modify the migration file in database/migrations/xxxx_xx_xx_xxxxxx_create_products_table.php:

public function up()
{
    Schema::create('products', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->id();
        $table->string('name');
        $table->text('description')->nullable();
        $table->decimal('price', 8, 2);
        $table->timestamps();
    });
}

Run the migration:

php artisan migrate

Step 4: Implement the Repository Pattern

1. Create the Interface in Interfaces Folder

Create a new folder app/Repositories/Interfaces/ and then the ProductRepositoryInterface.php file:

namespace App\Repositories\Interfaces;

interface ProductRepositoryInterface
{
    public function getAll();
    public function getById($id);
    public function create(array $data);
    public function update($id, array $data);
    public function delete($id);
}

2. Implement the Repository in the Eloquent Folder

Create the Eloquent folder inside Repositories/ and create ProductRepository.php:

namespace App\Repositories\Eloquent;

use App\Models\Product;
use App\Repositories\Interfaces\ProductRepositoryInterface;

class ProductRepository implements ProductRepositoryInterface
{
    public function getAll()
    {
        return Product::all();
    }

    public function getById($id)
    {
        return Product::findOrFail($id);
    }

    public function create(array $data)
    {
        return Product::create($data);
    }

    public function update($id, array $data)
    {
        $product = Product::findOrFail($id);
        $product->update($data);
        return $product;
    }

    public function delete($id)
    {
        return Product::destroy($id);
    }
}

3. Bind the Repository in the Service Provider

Run:

php artisan make:provider RepositoryServiceProvider

Modify app/Providers/RepositoryServiceProvider.php:

namespace App\Providers;

use Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider;
use App\Repositories\Interfaces\ProductRepositoryInterface;
use App\Repositories\Eloquent\ProductRepository;

class RepositoryServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
    public function register()
    {
        $this->app->bind(ProductRepositoryInterface::class, ProductRepository::class);
    }
}

Register the provider in config/app.php:

App\Providers\RepositoryServiceProvider::class,

Step 5: Create a Controller and Inject the Repository

Modify app/Http/Controllers/ProductController.php:

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Repositories\Interfaces\ProductRepositoryInterface;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class ProductController extends Controller
{
    protected $productRepository;

    public function __construct(ProductRepositoryInterface $productRepository)
    {
        $this->productRepository = $productRepository;
    }

    public function index()
    {
        return response()->json($this->productRepository->getAll());
    }

    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $data = $request->validate([
            'name' => 'required|string|max:255',
            'description' => 'nullable|string',
            'price' => 'required|numeric',
        ]);

        return response()->json($this->productRepository->create($data));
    }

    public function show($id)
    {
        return response()->json($this->productRepository->getById($id));
    }

    public function update(Request $request, $id)
    {
        $data = $request->validate([
            'name' => 'sometimes|string|max:255',
            'description' => 'nullable|string',
            'price' => 'sometimes|numeric',
        ]);

        return response()->json($this->productRepository->update($id, $data));
    }

    public function destroy($id)
    {
        return response()->json(['deleted' => $this->productRepository->delete($id)]);
    }
}

Step 6: Define API Routes

Modify routes/api.php:

use App\Http\Controllers\ProductController;

Route::apiResource('products', ProductController::class);

Step 7: Test the API

Run the Laravel development server:

php artisan serve

Test using Postman or cURL:

Get all products:

curl -X GET http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/products

Create a product:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Laptop", "description": "A gaming laptop", "price": 1500}' \
  http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/products

Final Thoughts

By organizing repositories into separate Interfaces and Eloquent folders, this approach makes your Laravel project more scalable and structured. This Repository Pattern ensures loose coupling, making it easier to switch to a different data source in the future.

Now you have a Laravel project following the Repository Pattern for CRUD operations! 🚀 Let me know if you have any questions!