A handy validate function for Laravel 5

validate.md

/**
 * Validate some data.
 *
 * @param string|array $fields
 * @param string|array $rules
 * @return bool
 */
function validate($fields, $rules)
{
    if (! is_array($fields)) {
        $fields = ['default' => $fields];
    }

    if (! is_array($rules)) {
        $rules = ['default' => $rules];
    }

    return Validator::make($fields, $rules)->passes();
}

All available validation rules in Laravel can be used.

Example:

validate('20150230', 'date'); // returns false
validate('20150228', 'date'); // returns true
validate('freek@spatie.be', 'email'); // returns true