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

Solution 1:

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');

Solution 2:

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

Solution 3:

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.