Forem: Kachkol Asa

Laravel Application Security

Kachkol Asa — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 09:08:36 +0000

Building secure Laravel applications might feel like an afterthought sometimes, but Stephen Rees-Carter dropped some serious knowledge at Laracon AU 2024 that made me rethink a few things. Stephen’s an ethical hacker who’s seen it all — and by that, I mean he’s hacked into a lot of Laravel apps, all to help devs like us see the cracks we tend to miss.

Inspired by his insights, I wrote up a guide to some of the most overlooked security steps that can make a huge difference in protecting your Laravel projects. Here’s a taste of what’s inside:

Outdated Packages – We all love libraries to speed things up, but if you’re not updating regularly, you’re basically leaving the door open. Run composer update more often than you think you need to.
Secured Session Cookies – A tiny .env setting can be the difference between safe cookies and easy-to-steal cookies. It’s a quick fix that you’ll thank yourself for later.
HSTS Encryption – Man-in-the-middle attacks? Nope, no thank you. Setting up HSTS means your users will always be on HTTPS, making these attacks a whole lot harder.
Blade Syntax Gotchas – If you’re mixing up {!! !!} and {{ }}, you’re risking XSS vulnerabilities. Small syntax mistake, big consequences.
Markdown Risks – Rendering Markdown without the right options can open doors you didn’t realize. A couple of config tweaks make it way safer.
Trusting Third-Party Code – CDNs are awesome, but adding integrity hashes keeps them secure. Don’t just copy the link and move on — check those hashes!

It might all sound obvious, but missing even one of these steps could leave your app exposed. Want the full lowdown? Read here: https://laraveleco.com/how-to-keep-your-laravel-application-hacker-free/

Creating Temporary URLs for Local Files in Laravel

Kachkol Asa — Sat, 28 Sep 2024 03:31:44 +0000

Working with private files in Laravel usually means involving third-party services like S3 or DigitalOcean. But what if you’re in a local development environment or have a lightweight project? You might not want to depend on third-party cloud services.

Luckily, Laravel makes it easy to serve temporary URLs for files stored locally. This approach can speed up development and simplify file sharing.

You just need to change the FILESYSTEM_DISK to local from your .env file.

FILESYSTEM_DISK=local

Next, check your config/filesystems.php file. Under the 'local' disk configuration, set 'serve' => true, if it's not there you can add it.

Once your configuration is set, you can use Laravel's Storage::temporaryUrl() to create URLs that expire after a defined time, keeping your files secure.

Here's a more detailed version of this article to help you understand better if you could catch on: https://laraveleco.com/laravel-how-to-create-temporary-url-for-files-in-local-disk/

If you liked this article and want to support, you can do so by buying me a coffee.

Herd 1.11: What's new

Kachkol Asa — Sat, 14 Sep 2024 07:57:33 +0000

Laravel Herd 1.11 just got out, and they introduced some interesting features that we have been waiting for long enough.

Here's a summary of what Herd 1.11 includes:

Forge Integration: Easily connect local sites to Laravel Forge and deploy directly through the Herd UI or CLI.
Profiler: Identify application bottlenecks efficiently with the herd profile CLI command or the /herd-profiler route.
Herd.yml: Share site configurations effortlessly across your team.
Reverb TLS Support: Launch secure Reverb instances with automatic TLS certificate management.
Dump Enhancements: View Eloquent queries, outgoing HTTP requests, logs, jobs, and Blade views without needing additional packages.

With this update, you can integrate your forge project domain with your herd project. And you can use PHP profilers to check culprits that are making your site slow.

And one of the most interesting part is to share your project configuration such as services on a specific ports with your team members. I've written a blog post on how you can share your project configuration with team members in Herd, you can check it out using this link: https://laraveleco.com/herd-share-project-configuration-with-team-members/

Then we have the Reverb TLS Support, which basically serve your reverb on HTTPS.

And they also enhanced the Dump feature of Herd which is a Pro feature of it.

And that's it!

The new Cache::flexible() of Laravel

Kachkol Asa — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 04:32:04 +0000

Waiting for large dataset to compute every time you hit a route sucks! And users don't want to wait, everyone has short retention these days, so we fixed it years ago by using Cache. Laravel has a Cache Fascad to help us caching data, and we have been using the Cache::remember() which is a great method to cache some data for a period of time until they are expired.

But in a recent event, Laravel announced the new upcoming feature in the Cache Fascad called "flexible". It uses the new defer() function of laravel in the background.

How Cache::flexible() works

Cache::flexible() is very similar to Cache::remember() which we are already familiar with and has a very few changes in the codes but a huge impact on the performance. You provide two values for time instead of 1 unlike Cache::remember().
If you are passing, 5 and 10 as the time frame for Cache::flexible() then when a user first hit or visit the route, the user must wait for the values to be cached and when keeping hitting the route within the 5 seconds then it just returns the cached values same as Cache::remember(). But here's the interesting part, if a user hit the route within 5 to 10 seconds time frame (as we provided) then Laravel will still provides the cached values for the firs visit within that timeframe and starts a background worker to cache the values again. And when the user visits the route again, he gets refresh data but this time without waiting for the data to be cached or computed unlike Cache::remember().

This can be tricky to understand for some of you, I recommend to read this article I wrote about it in more dept and with real life examples: https://laraveleco.com/cache-flexible-method-of-laravel/

How does the defer() function works in Laravel?

Kachkol Asa — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 16:54:50 +0000

Taylor Otwell recently announced the new function in Laravel called defer(). This will just do a very basic overview of how defer() function works and what problems you might have with it.

Identify the problem
Remember the routes you used to have where it needs to fetch something from the API and then perform some actions behind the scenes that the user does not care about but still waits for it? Yeah we all had it at least once, and Laravel knew it way before hence we have laravel's queues to handle those cases. But it's a lot of cumbersome to create a queue to just run a single function.

How defer() function solves it
Whenever you wrap a code in the defer() function, it will run the wrapped code after the response has been sent to the user browser. It makes it easier for the user to navigate without waiting for complex codes that takes a lot of time and the user does not care about them to complete for his response to be sent back to his/her browser.

Laravel makes it easy to run the wrapped code inside the defer() function even if the request fails with the ->always() method.

Using examples and reference: https://laraveleco.com/defer-function-in-laravel/

If you liked this article and want to support, you can do so by buying me a coffee.

Laravel Cloud: Why it matters?

Kachkol Asa — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 00:54:03 +0000

In the recent Laracon conference, Taylor announced Laravel Cloud to the laravel developers, his vision was to get a laravel application from local to production within a minute and frankly after watching the demo in the conference, it was definitely fast.

After the release of Laravel Cloud, we won't have to worry anything about servers, AWS, database & queue management, it all will be done with the laravel cloud and staging your laravel application for your clients to see is going to be much more easier and faster (at least for me).

They really did cover all the things you would need and support for the whole laravel ecosystem, including seem-less database management (no need to worry about the connection, it's automated), queue management (add any type of daemons very easily), hibernation to pay only when the app is up, and the prices are just way low then you would pay to a VPS. I mean, It costs around $6 to purchase a very basic VPS just to show your client the website and waste a lot of time just hosting it and keeping it updated, with Laravel Cloud you will be paying 1 cent per hour and only when it's up and you are using it (No paying when no one is using the site), I mean that's definitely a game changer, not only the price but the easiness to manage it.

Read More what's included and the pricing on this blog post: https://laraveleco.com/what-is-laravel-cloud/

5 Tips to prepare for a coding interview.

Kachkol Asa — Sun, 05 May 2024 15:59:59 +0000

Finally, you got a response from all the resume you submitted? Now It's time to prepare for your coding interview, they might introduce a coding challenge to you to solve it. It might be a front-end coding challenge (html, css and JS DOM) or a back-end coding challenge (Python, PHP, JavaScript, etc.). Even though you know you can pass it, it's always a great idea to do some practice before you get into the interview.

We will discuss 5 tips that can help you prepare for your next coding interview.

Revise Key Data Structure, Terms & Algorithm

First thing first, I hope you already know about all the most used data types such as string, integer, array, boolean, null, object, etc. But you might have forgotten all of their methods in your programming language. For example, if you are preparing for a PHP coding interview then you can revise all those most used data type's methods such as for array you got array_merge, array_values, implode, etc. and in JavaScript to divide a string you got split and much more other methods that you should revise before jumping into your coding interview.

And refresh yourself on algorithm such as sorting, searching, filtering and OOP techniques.

Do Last-Minute Problem Solving

To prepare yourself fully, you must at least solve 5-8 coding challenges just to makeup your mind for the interview and to be confident. Go to SkillSnip.com, you will find a lot of coding challenges in your preferred programming language and solve some coding challenges and go through other programmers solution on how they solved it to check if the codes you wrote could be better and optimized.

Revise the Common Libraries of your Programming Language

This part is the most simple one yet the most crucial, most of the time in coding interview they might ask you about libraries and their methods to solve a problem. So go through all the most common libraries used to make life easier, and just revise all their methods commonly used. For example, if you preparing for a Python Coding Interview then you could revise Panda if that relates to the interview, it really depends on which type of libraries you can expect from the interview.

Also, don't forget to revise all the built-in functions to optimize your codes.

Review the Basic System Designs

If you are about to face an interview that's for a senior or expert level, then it might be a good idea to go through all the basic system designs such as caching, messages queue, chunks, sharding, etc. Although, I highly doubt that the interview will ask you code something like this within the interview but they might ask you what your approach would be to achieve something like that if you were ever tasked with it. So be prepared for something like that.

Plan your Communication Strategy

This is the most important part, if your communication is not good enough then all of your coding experience might not satisfy the interviewer. Always take your time before answering, it's okay to think before you answer. Practice to answer and explain your thoughts more clearly and logically.
It's a good idea that when you are assigned the coding challenge then you should outline your approach before coding and talk through your solution step-by-step.
It's okay to ask the interview questions if you are stuck anywhere while coding, but obviously your questions must not be regarding the solution of the challenge.

Bonus Tips

Rest & Stay Confident: Sleep well tonight and approach the interview with confident, it's just a coding interview.
Be Comfortable: Wear something that makes you feel good and comfortable at the same time
Stay Hydrated and Calm: Bring some water and take deep breaths if you're feeling nervous.

That's it for today, will see you in another article.

This article was originally published on Developer Wings at https://developerwings.com/5-tips-to-prepare-for-a-coding-interview/.

5 Tips to improve your logic building in Programming.

Kachkol Asa — Sat, 04 May 2024 08:30:38 +0000

One of the hardest thing that beginners or even advanced coders is that they can't figure out how to solve the problem the right way, what they lack is logic building in programming. Building logic is like the backbone of real problem solving and programming, not the codes. Anyone can learn to code these days with a few tutorials but what they will lack is that they won't be able to solve any real work challenges, they only know how to write some stuff and some results will popup.

In this article, I will share 5 tips to improve your logic building skills without making the article too long to bore you.

Start with Simple Problems

Baby steps are the most affective one, start with simple problems before diving and challenging yourself with complex and overwhelming challenges. For the starting, try to solve simpler problems that you can solve relatively quickly. This way you will build confidence and will gain a solid foundation of basic programming concepts and logic.

Practice Daily with Daily Challenges

Consistency is the key in mastering any skill, not programming is no different. Make it a habit to solve at least one problem a day. And the best part, these days you don't really need to think of a problem yourself, sites like SkillSnip can help you with providing daily coding challenges. Try to utilize these tools and challenge yourself daily with these coding challenges.

Break Down Problems into Smaller Problems

When you are faced with a big challenge, it's always a good idea to divide it into multiple parts. This way you can focus only one smaller problem at a time, and not the whole thing at the same time. Go through the smaller problems and try to solve them one by one and then combine the solutions to solve the bigger problem. OOP programming techniques are really useful here in cause you are into backend.

Learn from Others' Solutions

Did you just finished a task and successfully completed a challenge? It's better if you go through the solutions of the people who faced the same challenge. Many coding platforms like SkillSnip has a sort of community where people try to solve the challenge and then publish their solution, so it's a great opportunity to compare your solutions with others and if theirs' is better, adapt them.

Review and Iterate on Your Solutions

Another step after solving a problem is reviewing it again. Reflections is a powerful technique in learning. Look at the codes and see what worked well and you can improve even better. Try to refactor your codes to make it look cleaner and maybe make it faster.

In short, to build logic in programming, you must start with baby steps, practice daily, learn from others solution and review your codes.

That's all for today, see you in another blog post!

This article was originally posted on Developer Wings.

Building a SaaS Platform with Laravel

Kachkol Asa — Thu, 02 May 2024 14:03:20 +0000

Are you thinking to build a SaaS application using Laravel and don't know where to start? And if it's good for it and what tools and libraries works best with it? This article is just about that.

Why Using Laravel Is a Good Idea for a SaaS Platform?

When it come to building a SaaS, the framework and language does really matters, it's important that the application is secure and the building process is smooth. There are several options that matches with these requirements such as NextJS, Django or Laravel. But after coding in all of them, I can confidently say that Laravel is a the most faster and reliable way to build a SaaS application.

5 Tips when building a SaaS Platform with Laravel

Here are some tips that you should consider when building a SaaS application with Laravel.

Start with a Starter-Kit
It's always a good idea to kick-start the project without worrying about the basic things that all the application needs such as login system, integrations and base layouts. I recommend to use Breeze if you are beginner.

Handling Payments
If you are building a SaaS, there is a high chance that it will involve payments and to accept payments many of the developer choose Stripe to go with which is an excellent choice and Laravel knows about that and they developed a tool called Cashier for that. It really helps to integrate payments very easily.

Hanlding Multi-Tenancy
Multi-Tenancy mostly means when your website is used by multiple companies under their own brands and is also known as whitelabel websites, although it is also refer to the websites which does not changes the brand but still has multiple companies/brand/teams under it. And to handle this type of features, there is great tools out there for Laravel. I recommend to use Spatie's Multi-Tenancy.

Roles & Permissions
Well, this part of the application is needed in almost all of the SaaS platforms, since there is a high chance that there will be multiple users type using your website. And here Spatie again plays a major role with their laravel-permissions library.

Query Scopes
Scopes is a really great way to automate all the queries based on the logged in user or even not. For example, you might have a blog in your saas and you don't want to show the draft versions if the user isn't an admin. For that, traditionally you would add the condition to all the queries you make but you can make it automated using Laravel's Scope. It's a feature built-in Laravel.

A more detailed version of this article and more tips can be found on the Developer Wings' article: https://developerwings.com/building-a-saas-platform-using-laravel/

If you liked this article and want to support, you can do so by buying me a coffee.

Best aesthetic pc build colors for developers

Kachkol Asa — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 18:22:39 +0000

The color of the components may not seem to be a major factor when constructing a PC for development work. The design of their workstation, however, can have a significant impact on many developers' overall productivity and happiness. We'll look at some of the greatest PC build colors for developers in this blog post, including black and white setups.

We start with the traditional black and white color palette. Many developers choose this classic combo since it is slick, refined, and simple to match with other elements. The versatility of black and white builds also makes them appropriate for a variety of locations, including the home or the workplace.

The traditional black and red color combination is yet another fantastic choice for developers. For individuals looking to stand out with their build, this daring combo is ideal. For developers who want to remain concentrated and productive for extended periods of time, the red accents give a hint of aggression and intensity.

Developers also frequently use the black and blue color combo. For individuals who want to foster a quiet and serene atmosphere at work, this color palette is ideal. The blue accents give the design a sense of coolness and can ease eye strain, which is especially useful for developers who spend a lot of time in front of their screens.

The black and green color combo is yet another excellent one for developers. If you want to infuse your workspace with a sense of harmony and balance, this color palette is fantastic. For developers who operate in a fast-paced, high-pressure atmosphere, the green accents add a touch of nature and can assist to decrease tension and anxiety.

A gray and white PC design is also a fantastic choice for developers, to sum up. For people who prefer a simple, eye-pleasing style that is clean and minimalist, this color combination is ideal. For developers who must remain concentrated and creative for extended periods of time, the gray accents provide a touch of refinement and can aid in fostering a sense of focus.

In conclusion, the color of the components can have a significant impact on overall productivity and enjoyment when creating a PC for development work. Developers who wish to instill a sense of concentration, equilibrium, and harmony at their workspace have a lot of wonderful possibilities, including black and white, black and red, black and blue, black and green, and gray and white. Select the shade that most closely matches your personal style, then relish your brand-new developer-friendly PC setup!

Is reading books worth it as a web developer?

Kachkol Asa — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 13:50:12 +0000

You could be considering whether reading books is worthwhile as a web developer. In the world of web development, there is a lot to stay on top of, and finding time to read books while you're busy learning new technologies, coding, and debugging can be challenging. But here's why I think reading books can be an enormously useful tool for web developers:

First of all, reading books can you in your quest for a deeper comprehension of the ideas and theories underlying web development. While books can provide you a larger and more comprehensive view on the industry as a whole, online tutorials and documentation are helpful for learning how to use specific technologies. When you're attempting to understand more difficult subjects, they can also provide you more thorough explanations and examples, which can be useful.

You may stay current on the newest trends and technologies in web development by reading books, which is another benefit. Insights and knowledge that you might not find elsewhere can be found in books, which are frequently published by authorities in the field. The fact that books take time to produce and publish also means that they frequently contain subjects that are not yet well-known or broadly accepted, giving readers a sneak peek into the future.

You can improve your ability to think critically and solve problems by reading books. Online tutorials and manuals can give you detailed instructions on how to carry out particular activities, but they don't always give you the chance to critically consider the underlying problems. Books, on the other hand, frequently call for more active participation from the reader and can aid in the independent analysis and problem-solving skills development.

It goes without saying that there are other ways to learn, such as participating in code challenges, going to conferences, and speaking with other developers. Reading books isn't the only way to advance your abilities as a web developer. However, I think that reading books can be a useful tool for web developers and that by including them in your learning regimen, you may strengthen your critical thinking and problem-solving skills as well as obtain a deeper grasp of the industry.

The brief response to the question is, "Yes, reading books is worthwhile for web developers." You'll have the chance to pick the brains of professionals, get a broad perspective, adopt a fresh approach to problem-solving, and keep up with emerging technologies. Even if you might not have much time, you can always try to start with a few pages a day and see where it leads.

However, it is important that you read the top best web developments books in 2023 to be updated with new technologies and methods.

Is php still worth in 2023?

Kachkol Asa — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 13:36:16 +0000

PHP is a server-side scripting language that is widely used for web development. It is the language behind many popular content management systems such as WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla, and is also used by many websites and web applications. In 2023, PHP is still a viable language to learn for web development and there are many reasons why you might consider learning it.

One of the main advantages of PHP is that it is relatively easy to learn, especially if you have prior experience with other programming languages such as C, C++, or JavaScript. The syntax is similar to other C-style languages, and the language has a large number of built-in functions and libraries that can make development faster and more efficient. Additionally, because PHP is open source, there is a huge community of developers who contribute to the language, which means that there is a lot of support and resources available for those who are learning it.

Another advantage of PHP is its wide adoption. Because PHP has been around for over 25 years and it's used by a large number of websites, there is a high demand for developers who are familiar with it. This can make it easier for you to find job opportunities as a PHP developer, especially if you are looking to work for small-to-medium-sized businesses or startup companies.

Additionally, many web hosting providers support PHP, which means that it's easy to deploy PHP web applications on shared hosting or VPS with minimal setup. PHP has a simple integration with many databse (mysql, postgres, sqlite, etc) and working with databases is very easy to pick up.

That being said, it's important to note that PHP is not the only language you should learn to be proficient in web development. While PHP is well-suited for server-side scripting and building dynamic web applications, there are many other languages that you should consider learning as well, such as JavaScript for client-side scripting, and Python for machine learning.

In summary, PHP is still a viable language to learn in 2023, but you should also keep in mind that web development is a constantly-evolving field, and it's important to stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and trends. If you are interested in web development, it may be a good idea to learn PHP as it can open up many job opportunities in the industry and easy to pick up , but also consider learning other languages such as JavaScript and Python as well in order to be a well-rounded developer.

Reference

https://developerwings.com/should-i-learn-php-in-2023/