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Unleashing the Power of Laravel: A Comprehensive Guide for Web Developers

Did you know that PHP powers nearly 80% of all websites? In stark contrast to the widespread belief in the IT industry that PHP is on its last legs, these findings demonstrate that the programming language is still very much alive, and it is fair to say that this is a debatable topic. 


This is particularly true of the tools and technologies used in PHP development. It's also difficult to imagine any popular programming language being used without some kind of framework. The DevPals team understands how difficult it is to choose a technology stack. We'll set the record straight by providing an overview of the most popular PHP framework.


In order to make the best choices possible when starting a new project, it would be helpful to provide an overview of Laravel and highlight its advantages over other frameworks. You're probably wondering why to use Laravel, but first, to make sure we're on the same page, let's define what a framework is and why it's useful.  A framework is reusable software that enhances the capabilities and performance of any program and saves development time by providing ready-made solutions. Complexity of these solutions ranges from easing routing, authentication, sessions, and caching to providing powerful tools for massive and robust applications development.


Since its release in 2011, Laravel has been used to build numerous MVC-style web applications, and it is currently the most popular PHP framework on GitHub! Because of its current maturity and widespread adoption, it has become the preferred option for many. Developers can focus on the business logic rather than the coding itself with the help of framework, which speeds up development, improves stability, increases security, and drastically reduces the effort required to maintain the code. Despite its flaws, Laravel has a plethora of features that will save development time, resulting in a sleek and sophisticated MVC architecture.


The Top Benefits of Laravel


Developers continue to prefer Laravel over all other frameworks. What distinguishes Laravel, and why should you use it? To begin, Laravel includes everything you need to create a cutting-edge PHP application. It is designed with the user in mind, streamlining their experience and allowing them to complete tasks more quickly. This post will introduce you to Laravel and explain how it can be used to build dynamic websites and robust web applications.




1. Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern


Laravel outperforms other PHP frameworks because it's built to industry standards. MVC is a well-known design pattern. By establishing a strong separation of concerns between the logic (Model) and presentation (View) layers, the MVC architectural pattern improves overall performance, documentation readability, and more. What is the function of MVC in Laravel? The MVC structure, which is an essential component of Laravel's core, enables high-quality service and functionality.


The framework enables programmers to easily create both large and small business applications. They can produce code that is easier to read and understand by utilizing the MVC architecture and it became a huge help when working on a large projects that requires extensive coding.


The MVC framework includes a plethora of pre-implemented features. Eloquent ORM's simplified database migration, comprehensive authentication system, pagination, and paging stand out among its many features. Using MVC and Eloquent ORM, finding files in their logical directories is a breeze, even when working on a large scale project. MVC gives more control over the final look and feel of their web apps.


2. Object-oriented libraries


Laravel allows MVC-structured code and has a beautiful, object-oriented syntax. It includes 20+ pre-installed modular and object-oriented libraries and tools for creating robust web apps. They let developers use the latest PHP principles to build responsive and modular web apps. Some modules aren't in other PHP frameworks. Laravel's authentication library protects databases with encryption and CSRF.Laravel and Symfony support some libraries. Code written with either framework is compatible because they both follow the MVC design pattern. Using best PHP practices, this code can be easily modified and maintained. 


3. Command-line interface (CLI)


CLI makes programming and maintenance tasks easier to complete. These programs process plain text commands to assist with installation, updating, and development. Laravel's CLI is called Artisan. The creators of Laravel did not invent CLI, and many practical solutions are based on existing ones. The most common uses of Artisan CLI include database migration management, authentication and authorization, package asset publishing, launching the development server, creating scaffoldings for front-end frameworks, and generating code for new controllers, models, and migrations. The command-line interface in Artisan simplifies and accelerates development while eliminating manual coding tasks.


4. Templates


Blade is just one more feature that makes Laravel a great framework. In order to make class-based PHP components, you can make use of the included lightweight templates. Incredibly beautiful designs can be made with the help of dynamic content seeding. The code in the source templates is run through the engine, and the results are written to a file or stream of text. Since Blade processes views, its associated .blade.php file is typically located in the resources/ views folder. The views are generated by Laravel's internal templating engine, which converts the templates to readable PHP code and stores it in cache for speed.


Blade combines templates with a data model without increasing the app's overhead in the way that other popular PHP templating engines cannot. Template inheritance describes this method. It also gives an access to a variety of useful control structures, such as if statements, loops, and comments. All of this makes Blade so potent that superior website design with truly outstanding layouts can be had ahead of schedule with minimal effort by simply employing pre-designed packages.


5. Database and ORM management


Eloquent is used by Laravel, which is a significant advantage when selecting a framework. It's pre-installed and the best PHP ORM. Eloquent ORM is a convenient, abstract interface for database queries that simplifies app database access. The database migration feature of the Laravel is popular because it optimizes query execution and accurately defines entity relationships. This ORM uses beautiful syntax to interact with database objects and relationships. Simple PHP syntax can be used to interact with app database objects instead of long SQL queries and works with PostgreSQL and MySQL. Eloquent allows Laravel's ActiveRecord implementation, which makes building and customizing Models easier. Eloquent is used to map complex table relationships and allows developers to modify and share the database schema across all database systems. As Eloquent ORM has comprehensive documentation, no one will get lost. 


6. Unit-testing support


Using Laravel, PHP unit testing is simplified. Integral testing is a part of the framework while regression testing is a part of this package. The Artisan command-line tool is used to execute unit tests. Laravel includes several components that make PHPUnit testing possible. Laravel runs tests in the Feature and Unit directories once phpunit.xml has been set up for unit testing. The former is preferable over the latter when dealing with large codebases that contain multiple objects. PHPUnit is a useful tool for testing Laravel-built web applications and it has built-in support for both feature and unit testing, meaning that developers don't have to rely on external tools to run them. The process of ensuring high-quality software relies on this.  Laravel's packages simplify the process of adding new functionality to apps, and its flexible architecture allows to generate high-quality unit tests with the help of user-defined functions.


Laravel simplifies the process of conducting unit tests that helps to create fast and reliable applications.  Laravel's support for parallel unit testing ensures that code changes will be properly implemented and as a result, this feature saves time and money when developing enterprise-level apps. 


7. The routing


When it comes to the routing, Laravel is fantastic while there isn't much code complexity. It's straightforward and well-organized in comparison to the routing of other frameworks. The program is adaptable enough to follow the URL's path exactly. The definition of routes is improved and simplified as a result.  Each route can have its own name, be placed in a group, and be bound to the automatic injection of model instances or request parameters with filters attached. To extend the functionality of the HTTP protocol, Laravel allows the use of HTTP middleware. This middleware enhances the interaction between a web server and a PHP program without the need for additional software. 


8. Excellent for the enterprise solutions


The flexibility of Laravel's design means it can be used to create anything from simple websites to the complex enterprise-level applications. Why Laravel is so popular among enterprise application developers:


  • It uses routing to establish a connection to a conventional relational database like MySQL and includes preconfigured tools to facilitate such communication;
  • Its extensive library of plugins and modules ensures that developers can work quickly and effectively under any circumstances;
  • It's simplifies the process of releasing and maintaining PHP-based web applications;
  • The robust ecosystem includes many useful tools for creating enterprise software;
  • It saves time and money when developing dynamic software;
  • The syntax is maturing to become more sophisticated and expressive and developers, who need a more streamlined authentication system, will benefit greatly from this framework.


9. Security


Laravel's primary security features include user authentication, password management, user login and signup, data encryption, and route protection. Creators of the technologies used to build web apps recognize that protecting user data is still a top priority, so they've built in some welcome security fepatures, such as several security-related additions that deal with cyber-crimes. You can ensure that your code and application are secure when using Laravel. An anti-hacking cross-site request forgery token is created with each login request. There is an in-built encryption system in Laravel that means password generation and storage, using the Hash facade, which employs the BCrypt Hashing Algorithm for maximum security. In order to prevent SQL injection attacks, Laravel only uses predefined SQL statements.


10. The open source


Laravel is an open-source framework, and those who use it gain the following advantages:

  • Full disclosure and teamwork throughout the creation process;
  • The support of the active programming community;
  • At regular intervals, new add-ons and modules are made available;
  • Top-notch guides written by an active and growing user base;
  • The ability to gain access to solutions provided by experts all over the world.


It's easy to see why Laravel is so popular; not only does it provide a full suite of tools, but its active community is a great resource for adjusting the framework to your project’s needs. 


Conclusion


Laravel is one of the best frameworks for web apps, with features such as MVC support, object-oriented libraries, command-line interfaces, a robust templating engine, an in-built ORM implementation, simplified unit testing, route protection, and an emphasis on security in software design. We recommend seriously considering this idea and seeking out the most qualified Laravel developers for your project. Only then will you be able to take advantage of all of the framework's features, and if you need help to develop a top-notch PHP web app,  the DevPals experts will be happy to assist!