I explained I thought that since validation was simple it didn't require a separate class extending the Validator class. He said it's called Rule class not Validator (but it's called Validator class, maybe he meant I should override the "rules" property in a class extending Request? Not sure). I then said that the way I did it, is idiomatic in Laravel as long as the validation logic is simple, to which he replied he doesn't like Laravel, which puzzled me since he works at a company that uses Laravel-based systems.