Laravel – The Best PHP Framework for Web Development
- Web
- October 21, 2016
Have you ever heard of Laravel? It started getting popular recently, so we decided to research what the fuss was all about. Now we know and are pretty much convinced that it is one of the best (if not the best) PHP Framework available for web development.
The Framework is first of all open source, and it has numerous great features, as well as a lot of extensions, and an overall elegant feel about it. The community around it is open to discussion and very helpful, and what we’ve learned from them is that it is quite simple to learn.
So, let’s see what exactly Laravel has to offer and why you need to use this PHP Framework in your own web development process:
Laravel Homestead
If you’re looking into web developing, you probably have heard of Vagrant boxes. If not, we’ll tell you a little bit about them. They are disposable, which is a very important characteristic of theirs, because if you get a bug, you’re hacked or so on, you can destroy it and easily recreate it.
Their purpose is to spare the user from downloading and installing various features on their PC like: HHVM, PHP or other software for servers you would need when developing. The Vagrant box that Laravel provides is called Homestead.
Database Schema Builder
Laravel has a schema builder helper which will allow you to create the database as easily as possible. In addition to this, which maybe a lot of Frameworks provide, Laravel allows you to add changes to the database schema without redoing all of your work.
This way, if you find there is a change you didn’t predict, you won’t be too bothered in updating the database schema.
Routing System
If your application needs a routing system, the Framework has a directory set in for that as well. This will probably be needed for some specific apps, but if yours is one of these, you can go on and find this particular feature, which can easily be triggered.
Testing
Of course, you will need to test what you create, and Laravel has already a file called phpunit.xml which will help you test out the product with different methods provided by the Framework itself. Testing has never been easier!
Implementing Authentication
Laravel has a very simple but efficient file when talking about authentication. You’re going to find it under the configuration file config/auth.php.
This file is filled with different variants of tweaking the performance of these particular services. Basically, they configured the authentication services for you, you just need to find the best one for you.
Eloquent ORM
The PHP Framework also contains some models for each table of database, that will help you insert query for data. It is called Eloquent ORM and it will make you feel like programming is a piece of cake, especially with the help of ActiveRecord implementation.
Database Query Builder
The framework allows you to work with a database query builder, which performs almost all of the needed operations when talking about web developing. The good thing is that it is universal, which means you can run it on any database system. Overall, the query builder is a quite efficient interface to create your queries on.
HTTP Middleware
You’ve probably wondered about the HTTP requests your app will definitely have. Well, those can easily be filtered via the HTTP Middleware the Laravel Framework provides.
Supported Blade Templates
Another feature from Laravel is supported Blade Templates. The Blade trademark templates are known to be very simple to work with, but that does not make them less elegant or powerful. They’re known to be good templates, especially because they let you code in pure PHP code as well, not only hybrid as others.
Caching
Caching is extremely important in web developing: developers know it, and people all around the globe are starting to understand its importance in a smooth user experience.
So, of course, you will want to include caching in your application. Laravel has two famous caching back-ends called Memcached and Redis, but these are not the only options provided by the Framework.
Artisan Console
Laravel developers have also thought of combining their framework with the Artisan console, which will help you in your developing endeavors. What the Artisan console is, if you haven’t heard of this term, it is the name of the interface regarding the command line.
Cloud Storage
Lastly, another interesting and important feature we decided to include from Laravel is the Cloud Storage, which is an essential when talking about web development.
The Framework gives you the option of working with two main file systems, like Amazon S3 and Rackspace Cloud Storage. You can even switch between the two, if you mind something with your first option. This is possible because Laravel provides the same API for both storage options.
Conclusion
After discussing of these numerous features, we can conclude that Laravel is a competent PHP Framework, maybe the best out there, but, in the end, what we want to say is that it is worth a try. Because it is so simple to learn, you want have many issues with learning how to use it and you’ll be ready for developing.
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