#78 - The new Forge & Laravel VPS 🆕, Real-world examples of the pipe operator 🧩, Laravel Activity Log UI 📦, 📐 Web interface guidelines, Collection::countBy💡

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Laravel 12.32.0 introduces batch job failure callbacks, enabling execution of specific actions upon job failures during batch processing. Additionally, the new Http::batch feature allows for multiple HTTP requests with comprehensive hooks for progress tracking and error handling. The release also enhances SQS FIFO queue support for mailables, notifications, and event listeners. Moreover, rate limiting now includes an "after" hook for response-based control, and a ThrottleRequests::using method supports enums.

The new features of Laravel Forge include Laravel VPS for instant server provisioning, zero-downtime deployments, automated SSL and domain management, and a redesigned UI for intuitive navigation. It also integrates tools such as SSH collaboration, real-time metrics, and role-based access control, while supporting modern frameworks like Nuxt and Next.js.

Inertia.js has announced version 2.2, featuring a new InfiniteScroll component. It offers easy setup, URL sync while scrolling, bi-directional and reverse modes, an optional manual "load more" function, and support for multiple pagination types.

Filament v4.1 introduces exciting features, including a new panel layout without a topbar. The rich editor now supports responsive grids and text color selection. A compact table repeater style and new table layout for repeatable entries streamline design. Additionally, an empty state schema component guides user actions when content is absent.

The ⁠countBy method in collections is a powerful way to count the occurrences of values in a collection. You can pass a callback to specify how you want the elements to be counted.

use Illuminate\Support\Collection;

$users = collect([
    ['name' => 'Alice', 'age' => 30],
    ['name' => 'Bob', 'age' => 20],
    ['name' => 'Charlie', 'age' => 30],
    ['name' => 'David', 'age' => 25],
]);

$ageCounts = $users->countBy(function ($user) {
    return $user['age'];
});

$ageCounts->all();
// [30 => 2, 20 => 1, 25 => 1]

The PHP 8.5 pipe operator (|>) enhances functional programming by simplifying operation chaining. This article demonstrates real-world applications like string cleanup, CSV processing, HTTP response building, and image processing with concise, readable code.

The article delves into the risks of dynamic method calls in PHP, highlighting issues like IDE integration challenges and code readability. It suggests using explicit methods or match expressions as safer alternatives.

Laravel Activity Log UI offers a sleek, modern interface for Spatie Activity Log, featuring advanced filtering, analytics, real-time capabilities, and export options.

The 2025 State of JavaScript survey is open. Help map the JS ecosystem by sharing the tools, frameworks, and trends you use. It takes ~15–20 minutes, all questions are skippable, and results guide developers and browser vendors. Open to anyone using JavaScript or TypeScript.

The piece outlines a pragmatic, 5-level playbook for AI adoption in engineering teams: start with AI code editors via a small alpha group, codify team-specific rules and MCP context, introduce background agents for low-touch tasks, add AI-assisted code reviews, measure real impact (adoption quality, productivity, quality, ROI), and keep a lightweight process to continuously evaluate new tools.

A comprehensive guide on interface design choices by Vercel covers accessibility, responsiveness, animations, and content clarity. It emphasizes framework-agnostic best practices along with specific React and Next.js guidelines to enhance user experience.