Using Queues and Jobs in Laravel 11: A Practical Guide

Queues in Laravel are an excellent way to improve your application's performance by deferring the processing of time-consuming or resource-intensive tasks. In this tutorial, we'll explore how to use queues and jobs to send a welcome email to new users after they register

Step 1: Set Up the Database for Queues

First, we need to set up the database table for queues. Run the following commands:

php artisan queue:table
php artisan migrate

Step 2: Configure the Queue Driver

In the .env file, set the queue driver to database:

QUEUE_CONNECTION=database

Step 3: Create a Job

Let's create a new job using the artisan command:

php artisan make:job SendWelcomeEmail

Step 4: Implement the Job

Open the app/Jobs/SendWelcomeEmail.php file and implement the job:

<?php

namespace App\Jobs;

use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Bus\Dispatchable;
use Illuminate\Queue\InteractsWithQueue;
use Illuminate\Queue\SerializesModels;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Mail;
use App\Mail\WelcomeEmail;

class SendWelcomeEmail implements ShouldQueue
{
    use Dispatchable, InteractsWithQueue, Queueable, SerializesModels;

    protected $user;

    public function __construct(User $user)
    {
        $this->user = $user;
    }

    public function handle()
    {
        Mail::to($this->user->email)->send(new WelcomeEmail($this->user));
    }
}

Step 5: Create the Email Template

Create a new email class:

php artisan make:mail WelcomeEmail

Then implement it in app/Mail/WelcomeEmail.php:

<?php

namespace App\Mail;

use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
use Illuminate\Mail\Mailable;
use Illuminate\Queue\SerializesModels;

class WelcomeEmail extends Mailable
{
    use Queueable, SerializesModels;

    public $user;

    public function __construct(User $user)
    {
        $this->user = $user;
    }

    public function build()
    {
        return $this->view('emails.welcome')
                    ->subject('Welcome to our site!');
    }
}

Create the email template in resources/views/emails/welcome.blade.php:

<h1>Welcome {{ $user->name }}!</h1>
<p>We're excited to have you on board.</p>

Step 6: Dispatch the Job to the Queue

Now, you can dispatch the job to the queue when a new user registers. For example, in app/Http/Controllers/Auth/RegisterController.php:

use App\Jobs\SendWelcomeEmail;

protected function create(array $data)
{
    $user = User::create([
        'name' => $data['name'],
        'email' => $data['email'],
        'password' => Hash::make($data['password']),
    ]);

    SendWelcomeEmail::dispatch($user);

    return $user;
}