Introduction
What is Laravel – PHP web framework?
Laravel is a reliable and simple to use open-source PHP web framework. It adheres to the model-view-controller pattern of design. Laravel makes use of pre-existing parts from other frameworks to build online applications. The resulting web application services is more organized and practical.
As is well recognized, in recent years, it has been considerably simpler to deploy websites and web apps. Even those who are technologically inept have mastered the tools to some extent.
This article provides a basic overview of PHP web frameworks used in web development in order to answer the question “What is Laravel?” After that, we’ll go over a list of Laravel’s core structures and components, an overview of its features, and a discussion of some of its more useful packages.
Laravel offers a really helpful development environment in addition to straightforward and expressive command-line APIs. Object-relational mapping (ORM) is another technique used by Laravel to facilitate data access and manipulation.
In order to truly understand benefits of Laravel and its uses we have to dive deeper. There is a sizable library of pre-programmed functionality available to developers (such as authentication, routing, and HTML templating). The use of this library speeds up the development of reliable apps while reducing the amount of coding required.
Laravel’s core structures and components:
The application in Laravel is basically the structure of folders, sub folders, and files included in a project. Following list comprises f the structures which are part of the Laravel. App, console, events, exceptions, HTTP, jobs, listeners, policies, providers, bootstrap, config, database, public, resources, storage, tests, vendor etc.
The following few factors illustrate why Laravel is a superior PHP web framework
1. PHP web Framework
Now we need to familiarize ourselves with the PHP framework in order to comprehend Laravel better. PHP stands for Hypertext Pre-processor, a cyclical acronym. It is a server sliding, open-source programming language that is frequently used for web development.
According to statistics from 2021, PHP is used by around 80% of all websites. Even though many people may not be familiar with PHP, everyone is aware of WordPress, one of the most well-known PHP applications.
A PHP web framework offers a collection of code libraries with pre-written modules that help users create applications more quickly. They provide web developers with a lot of advantages, such as quicker development, less code writing, and improved security.
Since they call for a particular organization of code, they also aid beginning developers in developing excellent coding habits. Furthermore, PHP web frameworks often require less upkeep than custom-built applications.
2. MVC Architecture:
PHP web frameworks makes use of MVC (Model-view-control) Architecture. For those who are not aware with the MVC architecture, the Model is the application’s data and includes all related functionality.
The model view controller support helps your site’s logic and presentation to be clearly separated. Additionally, MVC helps improve documentation, offer a number of built-in functionalities, and increase efficiency. The architecture provides a simple method for creating apps for corporations and organizations.
MVC support simplifies unstructured code, which is especially useful when working on large projects. It allows you to organize your work in discrete files that are easily accessible in logical folders. It also helps with the overall appearance of the application, particularly to customers, allowing you to better the final product for branding.
3. Object-oriented libraries and ORM:
One of Laravel’s greatest advantages is that object-oriented libraries are pre-installed. Other PHP-related frameworks do not have these pre-installed libraries. Active user monitoring, password resets, CSRF avoidance, and encryption methods are just a few of the features offered by the Authentication Library. The built-in ORM implementation in Laravel is called Eloquent. Compared to other frameworks, Laravel offers the best object-relational mapper.
You can use expressive syntax to interact with your database objects and relationships thanks to this object-relational mapping. Eloquent has the benefit of removing incompatibilities between databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and SQLite. It also gives you many alternatives for scalability by adjusting particular aspects regarding Laravel’s setups, making it simple to transition from one database to another.
4. Blade template engine:
When compared to other PHP templating engines, Laravel’s Blade template engine is straightforward but incredibly effective. It has no impact on your web app’s performance and does not prevent you from utilizing straightforward PHP code in views. It offers capabilities like template inheritance and presenting data that give flexibility to the web building process, along with some useful shortcuts for common PHP operations. It is simple to use and supports working with HTML and PHP spaghetti.
The Laravel web framework already has it pre-installed, enabling users to create top-notch layouts for their activities rapidly. Since it is lightweight, there aren’t many platform requirements. Finally, the blade template engine provides users with a framework that enables them to construct files that contain conditional expressions. The blade incorporates the integration element to let you logically divide your templates into several sections before allowing other files to inherit them.
5. Artisan console
The command line interface for Laravel is called Artisan. Artisan is frequently used for managing database migrations, publishing package assets, and producing boilerplate code for new controllers, models, and migrations. The developer can avoid writing correct code skeletons because to this functionality. By adding additional custom commands, one can increase Artisan’s functionality and capabilities.
6. Automatic package discovery
It is not always simple to install packages, usually because of compatibility problems. The installation of packages was difficult in Laravel’s earlier iterations. The incorporation of the new automatic package discovery feature was prompted by this restriction. Since Laravel 5.5, it is possible to automatically identify packages that users desire to install. When a new installation is required, it does away with the requirement for initial aliases.
7. Flexibility
Flexibility in the context of frameworks can be interpreted as tailoring the produced application to a particular client’s requirements. It is crucial to be able to customize company solutions. Regardless of whether the developed system is intended to service the company’s staff or its clients, every industry has specific requirements that call for a tailored solution. Laravel’s flexibility comes from a variety of packages that the programmer may utilize to rapidly and simply build business solutions with functions relevant to the client, in addition to the clean code.
There are many packages available in Laravel, such as Entrust, which enables you to grant users permissions according on the roles defined in the application. Additionally, there exist packages with solutions for effective user authentication and building anti-spam defenses. There are many more packages, some of them are made for certain industries and enable the customization of a Laravel-built application to meet the needs of very particular clients.
Conclusion – PHP web framework
In order to create software that is quick, scalable, dependable, and secure for today’s industry, programming frameworks are a crucial tool. Frameworks offer a place to start when trying to solve typical issues, regardless of whether the product is a website or a mobile app. Laravel effectively handles this task of increasing the resilience of online applications.
