Eloquent is Laravel's object-relational mapper (ORM), which maps database tables to PHP classes. It follows the Active Record pattern. Each database table has a corresponding model class, and each model instance is one row.
Its main advantages:
Simple, expressive syntax, such as User::where('active', 1)->get().
Relationship management, such as hasMany.
Automatic created_at and updated_at timestamps.
Soft deletes, which hide a row instead of removing it.
Query scopes, which are reusable query conditions.
Accessors and mutators, which change a value when it is read or written.
Model events, which run code when a model is saved.
The trade-off is speed. Eloquent builds a full model object for every row, while the query builder, called through DB::table(), returns plain rows. Large reports often run faster through it.
Rewriting in plainer words…
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