Laravel Tutorial

Laravel is an open-source PHP web application framework that has gained big popularity since its beginning in 2011. Created by Taylor Otwell, Laravel embodies the principles of Elegance, Simplicity, and Readability. As a developer-friendly framework, it offers robust features and follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern.

What is Laravel?

Laravel is a PHP web application framework that uses the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern. It is open-source and offers efficient ways of building web applications with its syntax and features.

Key Features of Laravel

1. Elegant Syntax and Robust Features

Laravel’s syntax is both expressive and elegant. It provides developers with a clean and intuitive way to write code. Some of its standout features include:

• Elevated ORM: Laravel’s powerful ORM simplifies database interactions, allowing developers to work with databases effortlessly.
• Blade Templating Engine: Blade provides a concise and expressive syntax for creating views, making template management a breeze.
• Artisan CLI: Laravel’s command-line tool, Artisan, streamlines common tasks such as creating controllers, migrations, and more.

2. Active Community and Extensive Documentation

Laravel boasts a vibrant community of developers, which translates to extensive documentation, tutorials, and support. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, the Laravel community ensures you have the resources you need to succeed.

3. Scalability and Maintainability

Laravel’s modular structure allows developers to build scalable applications. With features like Dependency Injection and Service Providers, maintaining large codebases becomes manageable. Additionally, Laravel’s built-in tools simplify deployment and updates.

4. Job Opportunities and Industry Demand

Learning Laravel opens doors to exciting job opportunities. Many companies use Laravel for their web projects, making it a sought-after skill in the industry. By mastering Laravel, developers future-proof their careers.

5. First-Party Packages

Laravel ships with several first-party packages that enhance development efficiency:

• Scheduler: Easily schedule tasks to run periodically.
• Cashier: Manage subscription billing services seamlessly.
• Flysystem: Treat remote storage (like Amazon S3) as local file systems.
• Socialite: Simplify OAuth authentication with providers like Facebook, GitHub, and Google.

Why Choose Laravel?

Laravel’s strengths lie in its:

1. Language Support: Requires PHP version 5.5.9 or higher.
2. MVC Architecture: Adheres to the MVC pattern for structured development.
3. Object Relational Mapping (ORM): Enforces constraints on database relationships.
4. Testing Capabilities: Built-in PHPUnit for unit testing.
5. Database Migration: Simplifies deployment and updates.
6. Security Measures: Utilizes SSH for secure CLI execution.
7. Form Validation: Internal event listeners handle form validation.
8. Scaffolding: Specify how the application database is used.
9. Rapid Application Development: Accelerate development without compromising quality.

What are Laracasts?

If you need help getting started with Laravel, you can right away start learning and developing using Laracasts which has hundreds of video tutorials on it. Skim the basics or start your journey to Laravel mastery, all from Laracasts! Want to start now? Laravel 5.7 from Scratch Laracast link.

Reasons to Learn Laravel

• Robust Framework: Laravel offers powerful features like Eloquent ORM and Blade templating, simplifying complex tasks in web development.
• Active Community: Access to extensive documentation, tutorials, and support from a vibrant community enhances learning and problem-solving.
• Scalability: Laravel’s modular structure and built-in tools facilitate the development of scalable and maintainable applications.
• Job Opportunities: Learning Laravel increases employability, as it’s widely used in industry and in demand by employers.
• Future-Proofing Skills: Mastering Laravel equips developers with valuable skills to build modern, high-performance web applications efficiently. 

What makes Laravel so special?

Laravel is power-packed with its own ready-to-use first-party packages some of which are:

• Scheduler: It includes support for scheduling periodically executed tasks.
• Cashier: For managing subscription billing services.
• Flysystem: Allows remote storage to be used as in the same way as local file systems.
• Socialite: Simplified mechanism for OAuth authentication with providers like Facebook, Github, Google, etc.

Features of Laravel

Let us now have a reality check on how good Laravel is as a web application framework based on a few key points:

• Language Support: PHP Version >= 5.5.9
• MVC Framework: Yes (from Laravel 2 onwards).
• Object Relational Mapping: Yes. Needed to enforce constraints on the relationship between database objects.
• Testing: Yes. Unit Testing is provided as an integral part of Laravel that prevents regressions in the framework. PHPUnit
• DataBase Migration: Yes. It helps in simplifying the deployment and updating of applications.
• Security: Yes. SSH(Secure Shell )is used as an encrypted network protocol for execution of CLI(command-line interface) commands.
• Caching: Yes.
• Form Validation: Yes. Event listeners are bind internally which invokes the form validation methods and thus the actual form is generated.
• Scaffolding: Yes. In Laravel, the programmer can specify how the application database may be used.
• Rapid Application Development: Yes.
• Mobility: No.