I'm currently optimizing my application and one thing is selecting only the things from database which are really needed.
For example when I'm retrieving a User object I normally do it like this:
$user = User::where($attribute, '=', $value)->first();
This code will give me back a full user object with all the columns. My users table is pretty big, so I thought it is a good idea to only select the columns which I need like this:
$user = User::where($attribute, '=', $value)->first($columns);
This is also working as expected. But my problem is, as soon as I specify columns, the relationships of the $user variable are not working anymore, because it is no longer an object.
My question: Is it possible to select only a few columns but still be able to use relations like
$user->parents
Thanks!
via Phil
