“Make it work, make it right, make it fast.”
~ Kent Beck
As Kent Beck wisely stated, transforming concepts into reality requires a balance of functionality, accuracy, and efficiency. Developers face the formidable challenge of navigating this balance and having an optimal framework that minimizes the learning curve while delivering swift results is essential.
Globally, over 80 million websites use PHP as their programming language. Developers, in turn, leverage frameworks as foundational platforms to develop web applications, with Laravel standing out as the most popular and supported framework within a thriving community.
Let’s explore the comprehensive guide and understand a good deal about the Laravel framework.
What is Laravel?
Laravel is a PHP framework characterized by a graceful coding style and braced by extensive community support. The framework adheres to an easy-to-follow development process.
Quick facts about Laravel
- A platform for constructing PHP web applications
- Boasts a vast code library
- Facilitates faster development times
- Ideal for creating secure and scalable web applications
A glance at the usage statistics in comparison to other PHP frameworks will underscore the widespread acceptance of this model.
Data courtesy: BuiltWith
CodeIgniter is another framework that falls into a similarly popular category. Therefore, we have selected it for comparison alongside three other frameworks for analysis: CakePHP, Symfony, and Yii. The number of websites developed using Laravel is an impressive 1,601,267!
Why is Laravel so popular and best for web development?
The intention behind creating Laravel, developed by Taylor Otwell, was simple: to assist developers in simplifying their work. In short, it aims to offer simple, faster, and better development solutions.
The primary reason for its popularity lies in delivering precisely what it is intended to provide — peace of mind! Here are nine other reasons that make Laravel the optimal choice for web development.
1. The transformation phase
- Swift deployment to market
- A modular platform
- Abundance of pre-built functionalities and structures
- Time-efficient solution
- Elimination of the need to write individual lines of code
2. Built-in user authentication & authorization support
With Laravel, creating a web application or website with user authentication and authorization is straightforward. For instance, applications featuring user account functionalities for Field Service Management Solutions, such as the following:
- Login,
- Register,
- and Password reset
can be effortlessly implemented with a single command! Organizing these functionalities is uncomplicated as they are readily available as built-in features.
3. Secure from malicious attacks & safety vulnerabilities
Some days, while browsing the internet, we may encounter websites displaying messages such as “Error 500 – Internal Error” or “Error 503 – Service Unavailable.” What are these errors, and why do they occur? The web security team often identifies these issues as potential attacks.
Web attacks have become a persistent concern in the digital world. A previously well-functioning application can suddenly crash due to security vulnerabilities. Fortunately, the security fixes logs in Laravel offer a promising solution. The platform provides security measures against:
- SQL injection
- Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks
- Cross-site scripting
4. Well-defined MVC structure
The MVC structure adopted by the Laravel framework is considered among the best, featuring a well-defined architectural pattern. Moreover, developers can modify the structure while keeping the base unchanged. This structure brings several advantages, including:
- Improved documentation
- Enhanced performance
- Availability of numerous built-in functionalities
Take a closer look at the MVC structure of Laravel, and appreciate the organized nature of its architecture.
5. Testing support
The framework offers outstanding support for automation QA testing, providing expressive testing capabilities for applications developed on this platform.
Notably, one of its highly regarded features is its unit testing capability, allowing testing of each component or module of the application. This makes it an ideal choice for developing high-performance and optimized web code.
6. Automatic command schedule
Suppose you have an application that necessitates sending email reminders or notifications. Traditionally, developers had to run a cron job for each task to schedule email notifications. However, with Laravel, this process has evolved.
In the Laravel framework, developers can define the command schedule within the framework itself. A single cron entry on the server is all it takes to execute this task, streamlining the process and making it more efficient.
7. Message queue system for load balancing
What if your online customer base experiences a sudden surge, say by 2x? In these scenarios, the application requires proper load balancing to accommodate the increased traffic. Failure to do so would result in escalated hosting efforts.
The Laravel framework is designed with scalability, allowing developers to optimize applications seamlessly in response to varying traffic. This ensures efficient server maintenance and effective traffic management.
The key component enabling this scalability is the message queue system. The queue service in Laravel provides a unified API across various queue back-ends, facilitating smooth and robust handling of tasks and messages.
8. Mail integration compatibility
Email is a powerful conversation starter for client prospecting, and nearly every web platform leverages email integration to achieve this goal or pursue other strategic objectives.
Laravel, in particular, is equipped with the SwiftMailer library, offering a clean and straightforward API configuration for individual email accounts. This feature enhances the platform’s capability to seamlessly integrate email functionalities into web applications, contributing to effective communication and client engagement.
9. Loading…, the least!
Laravel has a built-in file configuration that facilitates loading URLs within the framework, defining accessible and identifiable routes. The key functionality enabling this lightweight loading capability in web applications is URL routing.
URL routing empowers developers to configure applications to accept request URLs that may not necessarily map to physical files. Instead, it allows web content to display within the current sub-page without redirection to other links.
Now that we comprehend the reasons behind Laravel’s popularity, let’s delve into its specific advantages.
Advantages of Laravel framework
- Easy to get started and implement
- Simple to follow the syntax, especially for newbies
- Vast built-in library
- Easy deployment to major cloud service providers
- Powerful Blade templating engine
- Secure, robust, and scalable
However, every coin has two sides, and it’s essential to understand the potential drawbacks. Let’s explore the disadvantages of Laravel.
Disadvantages of Laravel Framework
- Slower compared to other frameworks due to the vast built-in library
- Developers need to exercise caution during version upgrades due to potential compatibility issues
- Do not inherently support payment services but provides a library for integrating payment modules
- Not ideal for mobile applications
Let’s look into the features of the framework.
6 important Laravel features you may find instrumental
1. Blade template engine
What is the Blade Template Engine in Laravel? It’s an engine that empowers developers to construct HTML-based designs and themes. Leveraging the Blade concept, developers can create straightforward layouts. Blade offers numerous advantages, such as:
- Adds zero overhead to web applications
- No restrictions in using plain PHP code in views
- A lightweight template
- Many widgets are available to incorporate with CSS and JS codes
2. Eloquent ORM
What is Eloquent ORM in Laravel? Eloquent is an Object-Relational Mapper (ORM) that comes included by default within the Laravel framework. Essentially, it’s software that facilitates seamless interaction with the database through a straightforward ActiveRecord implementation.
Eloquent allows developers to write database queries using PHP syntax, eliminating them from knowing or writing SQL for database modification. This simplifies the process and serves as a significant time-saving mechanism.
3. Vast library & MVC structure
As mentioned earlier, Laravel holds a significant advantage over other frameworks due to its extensive object-oriented library. This pre-installed library greatly simplifies development efforts.
The MVC (Model, View, and Controller) structure ensures robust separation between the presentation layer and business logic. Essentially, it’s a design pattern that segregates the model (logic and data handling), the view (UI), and the controller process (interface). This separation enhances code organization, maintainability, and overall application structure.
4. Open-source platform
With the support of a vast community, validating the features of the Laravel platform becomes straightforward. The framework includes a ValidationRequest by default, a trait controlling HTTP requests. This trait automatically checks errors in session data and generates views, streamlining the validation process and enhancing the overall robustness of the application.
5. Migration system
What is the migration system in Laravel? It is a feature that empowers developers to create tables in the database. This functionality utilizes PHP to write a migration statement for database creation instead of SQL.
In Laravel, the principle “what works with PHP stays active” emphasizes the seamless integration and alignment with the PHP programming language throughout the framework.
6. Localization
One of the outstanding features that contributes to the global acceptance of the framework is localization. The Laravel platform enables the creation of multilingual applications, using multilingual string functions.
Developers can access strings in various languages seamlessly by employing the trans() helper, providing a convenient and efficient way to manage and implement multilingual capabilities in their applications.
Bonus content:
Laravel for multi-purpose project requirements
Explore the packages available in the Laravel framework for numerous project requirements. Laravel is the best for various project requirements.
- Web application with subscriptions – Cashier
- Zero downtime PHP deployment – Envoyer
- Channel subscription & podcasts – Laravel echo
- Task automation & migration – Artisan
A quick comparison with other frameworks
Laravel works for all; the reason for this statement is due to the limitations that exist in other frameworks. You can find the curbs of the three PHP frameworks compared to Laravel.
- Yii – Struggles with poorly drafted Ajax features and a dependency on static methods.
- CodeIgniter – Not deemed suitable for large-scale projects.
- Symfony – Challenges with file parsing complexities – not the best choice for small-scale projects.
Laravel combinations
Laravel follows the MVC architecture, signifying that the framework is versatile enough to be employed in developing comprehensive applications encompassing both the back-end and front-end. Opting for Laravel to create a full-stack web application is a common choice among developers.
A few combinations work exceptionally well with Laravel. Here are the two most suitable combinations of Laravel.
Laravel + Vue.js
The combination of Laravel and Vue.js yields numerous advantages. Vue.js enhances user experience by providing a richer and more engaging interface, establishing seamless connectivity. The application becomes powerful when integrated with Laravel, the premier back-end PHP framework, and Vue.js, a prominent front-end JavaScript framework.
Vue.js facilitates the creation of a front end that updates without requiring page reloads each time the application changes. This is achieved through the virtual DOM, which efficiently responds to page updates, maintaining stable web performance. Furthermore, the learning curve for implementation is minimal, contributing to a smoother development process.
Laravel + React
React and Laravel forms one of the best combinations to deliver a magnificent user experience. React, a JavaScript framework excels in building independent single-page applications (SPAs), mobile or hybrid apps, and even television applications.
Together, this combination offers several benefits, including:
- Quick page loading
- Easy maintenance
- Bandwidth savings by avoiding the need to write HTML codes for all pages
Moreover, this combination is an excellent choice for constructing SEO-friendly websites.
Laravel + Angular
With Angular, a front-end JavaScript framework, page loading eases progress tracking. The performance of web applications increases when combined with the Laravel framework. How does the performance increase with this combination?
The reason is the way the page loads; there is no need to load the entire page, just the parts needed for loading. Also, the applications become more responsive. For example, when a customer form is implemented, it validates quickly for developer feedback.
Laravel, with any of the three front-end choices, can lead to the development of exceptional applications. Laravel developers can choose the front-end framework based on project requirements, making decision-making easier with experience.
Top websites running using the Laravel framework
- Disney
- New York Times
- Warner Bros
- Invoice Ninja
- Alison
- Laracasts
Final thoughts
Concluding the article, the provided data underscores the evident utility and popularity of Laravel as a PHP framework. Laravel stands out as a versatile and reliable choice for developers. It facilitates the creation of compelling websites and applications, ensuring speed and robust security. The framework’s adaptability makes it suitable for a wide range of business projects; spanning from small-scale to large-scale endeavors.
Based on the research data, one undeniable fact emerges: Laravel empowers developers to craft high-quality digital solutions efficiently. Its blend of speed, security, and scalability positions it as a top-tier option in PHP frameworks. This makes it an excellent resource for the developer community, offering a robust foundation for many projects.