php – What is the best practice for adding constants in laravel? (Long List)

For most constants used globally across the application, storing them in config files is sufficient. It is also pretty simple

Create a new file in the config directory. Let’s call it constants.php

In there you have to return an array of config values.

return [
    'options' => [
        'option_attachment' => '13',
        'option_email' => '14',
        'option_monetery' => '15',
        'option_ratings' => '16',
        'option_textarea' => '17',
    ]
];

And you can access them as follows

Config::get('constants.options');
// or if you want a specific one
Config::get('constants.options.option_attachment');

I use aliased class constants :

First, create your class that contain your constants : App/MyApp.php for exemple

namespace App;

class MyApp {
   const MYCONST = 'val';
}

Then add it to the aliased classes in the config/app.php

'aliases' => [
  //...
  'MyApp' => App\MyApp::class,

Finally use them wherever you like (controllers or even blades) :

MyApp::MYCONST

Your question was about the ‘best practices’ and you asked about the ‘.env method’.

.env is only for variables that change because the environment changes. Examples of different environments: test, acceptance, production.

So the .env contains database credentials, API keys, etc.

The .env should (imho) never contain constants which are the same over all environments. Just use the suggested config files for that.

First you make Constants folder inside your app directory.

And then you make Constants.php. Define your constants in this file

For Example :

define('ONE', '1');
define('TWO', '2');

And you modify the composer.json

Alternatively, you can use composer.json to load the bootstrap/constants.php file by adding the following code to the “autoload” section, like so:

"autoload": {
    "files": [
        "bootstrap/constants.php"
    ]
}

And update your composer !

You can create a file named paths.php in root directory/config/paths.php

Insert this data into paths.php

define('OPTION_ATTACHMENT', 13);
define('OPTION_EMAIL', 14);
define('OPTION_MONETERY', 15);
define('OPTION_RATINGS', 16);
define('OPTION_TEXTAREA', 17);

Note : make sure to run command : php artisan config:clear

Another way as following:

1. create the constant.php file in app/config directory

2. in composer.json file, add the directives like this:

   "autoload": {
      "classmap": [
          "database/seeds",
          "database/factories"
      ],
      "psr-4": {
          "App\": "app/"
      },
      "files": [
          "app/helpers.php",
          "app/config/constants.php"
      ]
   }
   

In addition to Arun Singh’s answer I would recommend you to use helpers.

Inside your helper.php you may define

if ( ! function_exists('constants'))
{
    function constants($key)
    {
       return config('constants.' . $key);
    }
}

Thus instead of

Config::get('constants.options');
Config::get('constants.options.option_attachment');

you may call

constants('options');
constants('options.option_attachment');

You can simply do this:

1. Put your constants to ‘config/app.php’ on main array, like:

   'CONSTANT_NAME' => 'CONSTANT_VALUE',
   

2. Use them where ever you want with:

   {{ Config::get('CONSTANT_NAME') }} 
   

require app_path().'/constants.php';

define('ADMIN',  'administrator');

or –

You can also move more sensitive info

return [
   'hash_salt' => env('HASH_SALT'),
 ];

And use it like before:

 echo Config::get('constants.hash_salt');

You can define constants at the top of the web.php file located in routes and can be access the constants anywhere in project with just constant name

define('OPTION_ATTACHMENT', 13);
define('OPTION_EMAIL', 14);
define('OPTION_MONETERY', 15);
define('OPTION_RATINGS', 16);
define('OPTION_TEXTAREA', 17);