Laravel Repository Pattern Best Practice - php

Question

I'm writing a new project with laravel 5.1, and I want to use the repository pattern, but I can't figure out what is the best way of doing that.
I was thinking about:
public function save(User $user)
{
$user->save();
}
public function find($id)
{
return User::find($id);
}
And then
$user = new User();
$user->email = 'foo#bar.com';
$userRepo->save($user);
That way I work with the model as DTO, and it's super easy and comfortable, but then I will be depend on Eloquent.
So I was thinking of using an array instead of model, like that:
public function save(array $user)
{
User::save($user);
}
public function find($id)
{
return User::find($id)->toArray();
}
But then it will be much less comfortable to use.
Can you explain me what is the best way of using repository in Laravel so I will be able to change data source easily in the future, but it will still be comfortable to use this pattern?

Answer 1

I have it set up as follows, using your example:
<?php namespace Repositories;
use Models\User;
class UserEloquentRespository implements UserInterface {
protected $user;
public function __construct(User $user)
{
$this->user = $user;
}
public function create($input)
{
$this->user->create($input);
}
}
Then in my controller
Laravel 4
<?php namespace Controllers;
use Repositories\UserInterface as User;
class UsersController extends \BaseController {
protected $user;
public function __construct(User $user)
{
$this->user = $user;
}
public function store()
{
$input = \Input::all();
// validation here
// now create your user
$user = $this->user->create($input);
if ($user) {
// redirect or do whatever you do on successful user creations
}
// Here you can do whatever you do if a user wasn't created for whatever reason
}
}
Laravel 5
<?php namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Repositories\UserInterface as User;
use App\Http\Requests\UserRequestForm;
use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
class UsersController extends Controller {
protected $user;
public function __construct(User $user)
{
$this->user = $user;
}
public function store(UserRequestForm $request)
{
// Form request validates in middleware
// now create your user
$user = $this->user->create($request->input());
if ($user) {
// redirect or do whatever you do on successful user creations
}
// Here you can do whatever you do if a user wasn't created for whatever reason
}
}
Lastly, don't forget to bind your interface to your eloquent repository as a service provider.
App::bind(
'Repositories\UserRepositoryInterface',
'Repositories\Eloquent\UserEloquentRepository'
);
Now, whenever you need to change your implementation just change the binding to whatever new class implements your interface.