Changing your mind about when() and unless() in Eloquent

Aaron admits he used to wrap every query in plain old if-statements—until Laravel’s when()/unless() helpers (and arrow functions) won him over. He and Joel compare their journeys, debate readability trade-offs, and share guidelines for deciding which style to use. Along the way they discuss false assumptions, evolving “code grammar,” and how tools such as Rector can automate the switch.(00:00) - Intro – refining long-held opinions (00:45) - Aaron’s original “query-then-if” pattern (01:45) - Why when() first felt clumsy (closures, scopes, extra params) (03:45) - Arrow functions & smaller conditions make when() nicer (05:00) - Joel’s lingering objection: avoiding unless() for readability (06:45) - Seeing the same helper everywhere changes minds (08:30) - Takeaways – keep revisiting old habits as Laravel evolves (09:30) - Silly bit Want help learning how to more quickly refactor and standardize your app with Rector?