Written by Giles Bennett
Laravel is an incredibly popular PHP framework that was first introduced in 2011. Since then its usage ha grown rapidly, and it is now one of the most widely used PHP frameworks for web development. Over the years it has grown in usage because of its simplicity, ease of use, and its ability to quickly develop web applications. In this article we're looking at just a few of the standout features that Laravel developers can harness to make your project run smoothly and quickly.
MVC architecture
Laravel follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern. This means that it separates the application's logic into three components: the model, the view, and the controller. The model manages the data, the rules and the logic of the application, and passes the data to the user via the view, which is what the user sees and interacts with. When the users does something to the view, the controller handles this input and either adjusts the model (updating the data, for example) or the view accordingly.
This approach - separation of concerns - is a key benefit allows developers to work on different parts of the application independently. This makes the codebase more manageable, easier to understand, and easier to maintain.
Blade templating engine
Blade is Laravel's built-in templating engine. It provides a clean, easy-to-use syntax for creating views. Blade templates are compiled into plain PHP code, making them extremely fast. Blade also has several built-in directives for working with control structures, such as loops and conditionals. It also allows for template inheritance, so one template can inherit its structure from another, which allows for simple, flexible, reusable templates. It makes getting the visible parts of a site up and running an absolute breeze.
Artisan CLI
Laravel comes with a powerful command-line interface (CLI) called Artisan. Artisan provides a set of useful commands that can help developers with tasks such as database migrations, model creation, and generating boilerplate code. Artisan is also extensible, which means developers can create custom commands for their specific use cases.
Routing
Laravel's routing system allows developers to define clean and expressive routes for their application. Routes can be defined using a simple and readable syntax. Additionally, Laravel's routing system supports named routes, which makes it easy to generate URLs for different parts of the application.
Eloquent ORM
Laravel's Eloquent ORM provides an easy-to-use and expressive way of working with databases. Eloquent allows developers to define database models as classes, and then interact with those models using a simple API. This makes working with databases much easier and more intuitive.
Middleware
Middleware is a powerful feature of Laravel that allows developers to filter HTTP requests entering the application. Middleware can be used to add authentication, rate limiting, and other features to an application. Additionally, middleware can be applied globally or to specific routes.
Security
Laravel takes security seriously and provides several built-in features to help developers write secure applications. For example, Laravel provides cross-site request forgery (CSRF) protection out of the box. Laravel also provides a way to securely store user passwords using bcrypt hashing.
Testing
Laravel provides a robust testing framework out of the box. Developers can write tests to cover their application's functionality, and then run those tests with a single command. Additionally, Laravel's testing framework makes it easy to simulate HTTP requests and responses, which makes testing APIs much easier.
Community
Laravel has a large and active community of developers who contribute to the framework and create third-party packages. This community has created thousands of packages that can be used to extend Laravel's functionality. Additionally, the Laravel community provides support through forums, Slack channels, and other resources.
Documentation
Laravel has excellent documentation. The documentation is well-organized and easy to navigate. It covers all aspects of the framework, from installation to advanced features. Additionally, the documentation includes tutorials, code examples, and best practices.
