Ryan van Rensburg 2024-04-25 14:55:15
PHP is an easy-to-learn server-side scripting language used for web development, which has been around since 1995 and is used by around 76% of websites on the Internet. (W3Techs March 2024.) So, if you're a web developer, there's a strong chance you use PHP. If you're an aspiring web developer, it's going to be a very useful language to learn. Like many languages, PHP has a host of frameworks that make programming that little bit easier and more structured. One of those is Laravel
If you have ever done any back-end web development using PHP, then hopefully you have heard of Laravel. If not, then let me tell you a bit about it. Laravel is an open-source web application framework written in PHP. Using a framework provides a standard way to develop a web application. It includes all of the core features that most web applications use, for example:
- a means to communicate with a database,
- a templating engine to simplify output,
- session management,
- an authentication and authorization system and many other features.
Instead of re-writing the same code for every new application, you can use a good framework such as Laravel to focus on the core features of your application.
Laravel was created by Taylor Otwell in 2011. It uses the MVC (Model View Controller) design pattern to separate the web application into three different components. It is currently the most popular PHP framework and is one of the easiest to learn.
Some of the best features of Laravel include:
User-friendly, Comprehensive Documentation:
Laravel boasts well-organized and extensive documentation available at laravel.com/docs. Developers can easily find answers to their questions and learn about the framework’s features.
Easy-to-Use Routing System:
Laravel simplifies defining routes for your application. You can map URLs to specific controllers and actions effortlessly.
Blade Templating Engine:
Blade is Laravel’s templating engine, which allows you to create dynamic views by embedding PHP code within your HTML templates. Blade templates are expressive and straightforward.
Vite for Asset Compilation:
Vite is a build tool that streamlines the compilation of CSS and JavaScript assets. It enhances performance by leveraging native ES modules and asynchronous loading.
Artisan Command Line Tool:
Artisan provides a suite of commands for common tasks. Developers can rapidly scaffold controllers, models, migrations, and more using Artisan.
Migrations for Database Schemas:
Migrations allow you to manage database schema changes. They provide version control for your database structure.
Query Builder:
Laravel’s Query Builder lets you construct database queries programmatically. You can build complex queries without writing raw SQL.
Eloquent ORM (Object Relational Mapper):
Eloquent simplifies database interactions. It represents database tables as classes, with each object instance tied to a single table row. Developers can perform CRUD operations using expressive syntax.
Security Features:
Laravel includes robust security measures:
- CSRF Protection: Guards against Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks.
- XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) Prevention: Escapes output to prevent malicious script injection.
- SQL Injection Prevention: Eloquent automatically handles parameter binding.
- Authentication and Authorization System: Built-in features for user authentication and role-based access control.
- Password Hashing and Encryption Utilities: Safely store user passwords.
Unit Testing:
Laravel encourages writing unit tests so that developers can ensure code quality and catch issues early.
Automated Pagination:
When dealing with large result sets, Laravel provides automated pagination, which allows you to effortlessly paginate query results .
Validation for Request Data:
Laravel simplifies data validation. You can validate user input easily using predefined rules.
If this piques your interest there is a huge community with excellent resources. One such resource is Laracasts, a video tutorial site for learning Laravel. Leading Training also provides classroom and live virtual training courses including our 2-day Laravel Introduction course, our 2-day Laravel Intermediate course, and our 1 day Building a RESTful API with Laravel course.