Laravel Tip: whereHas or whereRelation?

Dive into Laravel Eloquent: Exploring whereRelation and its Practical Applications

This post explores Laravel's Eloquent ORM, focusing on the whereRelation method and comparing it to the older whereHas method. We'll examine its strengths and limitations, guiding you toward optimal usage.

Scenario: Retrieving users with completed orders. Before Laravel 8, whereHas was the standard for querying related table columns. Laravel 8 introduced whereRelation, offering a more concise syntax.

The improved syntax is undeniably cleaner!

Performance and Limitations: A common misconception is that whereRelation outperforms whereHas. However, analysis reveals that both generate identical SQL queries:

whereHas Query:

<code class="language-sql">select * from `users` where exists 
  (
    select * from `orders` 
    where `users`.`id` = `orders`.`created_by` 
    and `status` = ? 
    and `orders`.`deleted_at` is null
  ) 
and `users`.`deleted_at` is null</code>

whereRelation Query:

<code class="language-sql">select * from `users` where exists 
  (
    select * from `orders` 
    where `users`.`id` = `orders`.`created_by` 
    and `status` = ? 
    and `orders`.`deleted_at` is null
  ) 
and `users`.`deleted_at` is null</code>

The key difference lies in functionality. whereRelation is limited to single conditions on the related table, while whereHas supports multiple conditions within a single subquery. whereRelation would create a separate subquery for each condition, making it inefficient for multiple criteria.

Choosing the right Eloquent method is crucial for code readability and efficiency. Consider the complexity of your query before selecting whereHas or whereRelation. Happy coding! ?

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