Laravel - aesthetic code, database query in controller? - php

Question

I'm doing forum now.
I wrote code in controller, but I'm wondering or this is a good way to do this (or this is pure code, I mean or my code is solid etc). I was thinking that, maybe my questions to DB should be in MODELS? And do specific methods to this, or this can be here?
I'm not sure, or this database query can be in foreach?
On the main site I want to have in table : forum topics, how many posts, how many answers and last post:
Here's code:
class ForumController extends Controller
{
public function mainSite()
{
$mainData = [];
$topics = Topic::all();
$lastPost = [];
foreach ($topics as $topic) {
$allPosts = Posts::where('topic_id', $topic->id)->count();
$allComments = Comments::where('topic_id', $topic->id)->count();
$post = Posts::select('added_at', 'user_id', 'subject')->where('topic_id', $topic->id)->orderBy('added_at', 'DESC')->first();
$user = ForumUsers::select('name')->where('id', $post['user_id'])->first();
$lastPost[$topic->name]=[$post['added_at'], $post['subject'], $user['name']];
$mainData[] = ['topic' => $topic->name, 'posts' => $allPosts, 'comments' => $allComments];
}
return View('forum', ['mainData' => $mainData, 'lastPost' => $lastPost]);
}
}
And here is my View:
<table>
<tr>
<th>Forum</th>
<th>How many posts</th>
<th>How many answers</th>
<th>Last post</th>
</tr>
#foreach($mainData as $topic)
<tr>
<td>
{{$topic['topic']}}
</td>
<td>
{{$topic['posts']}}
</td>
<td>
{{$topic['comments']}}
</td>
<td>
#foreach($lastPost[$topic['topic']] as $post)
{{$post}}
#endforeach
</td>
</tr>
#endforeach
</table>
I'm a beginner and please tell me tips how to do good code, or how to have good habits in programming. Thanks for all answers!

Answer 1

Eloquent have some "magic" stuff hard to see for a beginner, like Model::whereMyField. For instance, you can transform your
Posts::where('topic_id', $topic->id)
to
Posts::whereTopicId($topic->id)
Plus, you can avoid all your Model::where by setting relations in your Eloquent model. Here's some reading: https://laravel.com/docs/5.4/eloquent-relationships
Don't forget //comments in your code. It's a good practice tu put some comments & PHP doc.
Bonus: you have a cool IDE helper to help you to discover all the "magic" methods of your models: https://github.com/barryvdh/laravel-ide-helper