In today’s digital world, applications run our life – from doing basic errands to filing our taxes. Everything is centered on apps, and companies continuously compete against each other to build the best application that people will patronize and use daily.
However, building an application is not an easy task. You need to consider numerous factors before developing your software, such as tools, platforms, and resources. And as a developer, finding the right programming language and framework is one of the most challenging aspects of app development.
There are tens of well established programming languages and frameworks online. Still, it is nearly impossible to find the perfect one for your project. You might be looking to choose between PHP vs Python, or Java vs ASP.net. If you are going to build a web app, let us introduce you to one of the best PHP frameworks, Laravel.
This article will help you understand what Laravel is and why it is considered one of the best PHP frameworks.
What is PHP?
PHP or Hypertext Processor is a widely used scripting language. It is used mainly in developing static or dynamic websites and web applications. The language can be embedded into HTML, CSS, Javascript, and more. It’s open-source and runs on various platforms like Windows, Unix, Mac OS, Linux, etc.
To date, PHP has a simple syntax that is easy to learn by beginners in programming. It has a big community online that offers help and assistance in any issues faced by developers. Since 1991, the PHP community has developed and provided some of the best PHP frameworks, including Laravel.
What is Laravel?
Laravel is one of the best PHP frameworks developed by Taylor Otwell.
🔥 Today’s Laravel release has some nice new community driven features…
— Taylor Otwell 🪐 (@taylorotwell) September 28, 2021
First, you can easily retrieve incoming request data as a collection instance using a new “$request->collect()” method: https://t.co/KNYr5W4lik pic.twitter.com/48zYu03IDp
It is open-source and easy to understand, and follows a model-view-controller design pattern. Laravel uses existing components and other frameworks that help create a web application, making it more structured and practical.
Initially, Laravel framework was developed to offer a more advanced alternative to CodeIgniter and Symfony. Its functionalities and features are based on other PHP frameworks like Yii and CodeIgniter. Meanwhile, its architectural patterns are primarily based on Symfony. Laravel gained its popularity after the release of Version 3, which includes the command line interface called Artisan – thus being called PHP Framework for Web Artisans.
Laravel is used in building custom web apps using PHP. The framework is best used to handle complex and repetitive tasks such as routing, authentication, HTML Templating. Since its running in PHP, the framework works entirely server-side and concentrates mainly on data manipulation. Laravel offers a robust back end for your website.
10 reasons why Laravel is the best PHP framework?
According to BuiltWith Technology Lookup, an estimated 737 thousand websites are using Laravel as its framework.
So why is this the case? Let’s investigate the reasons why web developers consider Laravel as the best PHP framework over others.
1. Great security elements
Laravel PHP Framework takes security seriously within its framework. It is an essential component of the database, and the framework warrants that security is integrated into your web design.
The website also uses a hashed password, ensuring any passwords would not be saved in plain text. Thus, an automated token is generated in encryption using the Bcrypt hashing algorithm whenever a given user logs into the system. This will help avoid unauthorized access to your website.
Laravel also prevents injection attacks from occurring on your database with its prepared SQL statements. In addition, you can integrate the following security features in your website that you can find in Laravel.
2. Object-oriented libraries and eloquent ORM
One of the top features that make Laravel the top PHP framework is its preinstalled object-oriented library. These libraries come with excellent features such as password resetting, active users monitoring, encryption mechanism, Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) protection, and more.
Laravel also highlights its Eloquent Object Relationship Mapping (ORM) that helps you recover data from your database quicker. This feature facilitates the creation of the relationship between interlinking database objects.
3. Artisan commands
Another feature that makes Laravel the leading PHP framework is its included command-line interface called Artisan. It allows developers to automate tedious and repetitive programming tasks. Developers can use this tool to generate MVC files and manage data configurations with its commands. It uses a powerful Symfony Console component to build the application and help in data migration and management.
4. Database migration
What makes Laravel Framework the top PHP framework is that it makes database migration easy. Eloquent solve any compatibility issues between databases such as SQL Server or MySQL. It also ensures a smooth flow when switching databases by changing details regarding the configurations of Laravel.
Using the Artisan Console can also assist in packaging assets and managing database migrations and seeding. This feature prevents users from creating code skeletons. In addition, users can migrate code with ease and comfort.
5. MVC support
Laravel Framework comes with the Model-View-Controller (MVC) web architectural pattern. It is convenient to use and great in building a small business or extensive application. When developing a project using PHP, you usually deal with unstructured code. MVC can help you organize a big project with more than five files. It simplifies your coding structure for easy maintainability.
In addition, MVC support also makes it easier for developers to find files in logical directories. With this, developers can control the process of their application that appears after deploying. It also helps them solve issues in a structured manner.
6. Task management and scheduling
When developing an application, specific tasks often consume time. Sometimes, these tasks need to be delayed so they would not hold up the development process. A perfect example of this is sending out a weekly newsletter for all the subscribers. This is
Laravel has a unified application programming interface (API) that defer these tasks in the later application stage. Laravel’s Command Schedule provides a clean API scheduler for various tasks. You don’t have to log in to your machine’s terminal using SSH, and all these scheduled jobs are a part of your code.
7. Automatic packaging system
Application Packaging is necessary for businesses when deploying software to users. It allows developers to distribute the program to all users, whichever platform they are using. Great application packaging helps in reducing customer support and maintaining corporate standards.
Laravel has an Automatic Package Discovery feature, which offers an automatic package discovery option that assists users in their installation. It lets them detect potential package inclusion that they might want to install and disable unwanted features of the packages.
8. Blade template engine
Developing a program often comes with tasks that need a template engine to handle a lot of textual data in the application. The template engine links the data model, processes the source template code, and produces the output to a specific stream or text file.
Laravel features Blade Templating Engine, a lightweight but powerful pre-installed template engine that helps developers make the development process smooth using exemplary layouts. Blade Templating Engine provides its structure to develop and view a file that comprises conditional statements and loops. It also displays data and extends designs without affecting the speed and performance of the program. It can also enable developers to create an innovative and unique layout using its featured content seeding.
9. Efficient testing features
Unit tests are essential in the development cycle to ensure that all code meets quality standards before deployment. Fundamentally, Laravel features permit performing unit tests through PHPUnit, a unit testing package from PHP.
However, Laravel makes it easier to conduct a unit test with its out-of-the-box testing feature. After the phpunit.xml file is ready for unit testing, the framework tests its Feature and Unit directories. This feature encompasses tests that detect and prevent regressions in the framework. The unit tests can be executed through the Artisan Command-line Utility that was mentioned above. Programmers can be kept unit tested under observation constantly, something necessary for software quality control.
In addition, with Laravel, developers can define custom test methods according to specific application requirements. They are free to customize the functions that can lessen or create more advanced unit tests. Laravel can eliminate time-consuming unit tests and make PHP apps bug-free and high quality.
10. Laravel is 100% open source
The most significant characteristic that makes Laravel the best PHP framework is open-source and completely free. To add up, the framework offers the following benefits to its users such as:
- Dedicated Laravel Developer Community: Laravel blog, certification, and Laracasts forum
- New plugins and modules are released
- More room for customization and modification
- Available resources and tutorials online
Developers tend to choose Laravel over other frameworks for its excellent features and strong community that supports and improves the framework and continuously upgrades it.
Conclusion
In summary, Laravel is one of the most versatile and great frameworks used in developing web applications. This framework is practical, flexible, and offers excellent opportunities that can ease the development process of an application.
Laravel’s remarkable features like MVC pattern support, ORM Implementation, and Artisan Command-Line provide an out-of-the-box solution to heavy and time-consuming tasks for developers.
If you are looking into using Laravel to develop your web apps, Flexisource IT offers a dedicated team of web developers that are talented and experienced. You’re your business with us. Check out our IT services page for more information.
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