[SOLVED] Why to use DB::raw inside DB::select in Laravel?

Why to use DB::raw inside DB::select in Laravel?

Is it mandatory to use the function DB::raw when you are running a query and you are not using the fluent query builder in Laravel?

e.g.

$result = DB::select("SELECT * FROM users");

$result2 = DB::select(DB::raw("SELECT * FROM users"));

I get the same result in both cases. So why is it necessary to use DB::raw?

Solution

DB::raw() is used to make arbitrary SQL commands which aren't parsed any further by the query builder. They therefore can create a vector for attack via SQL injection.

Which means, using DB::raw() only makes sense with a query builder (and it should be used with caution!).

While DB::select() is not a query builder. And therefore it makes no sense to use DB::raw() with DB::select().

As of models, there is no question whether to use it or not, because query builder's select() method does not accept raw SQL strings and so DB::raw() is required. Examples of using raw SQL with models.