Laravel has gained popularity as one of the most favourable PHP frameworks, admired by developers for its elegance, ease of use, and powerful features. Developed by Taylor Otwell, it is a free and open-source PHP web application framework that adopts the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern.
As per the recent data, there are approximately 757,533 live websites which are using Laravel. This blog discusses what differentiates Laravel from other frameworks and why it has become the preferred choice for many companies and developers.
Laravel: A Brief Overview
Laravel: A Brief Overview
Laravel is built on several Symfony components which serve as a well-tested, stable base of code. This base enables Laravel to offer advanced features while preserving high performance. The framework aims to ease the development process by handling common tasks typically involved in web projects, such as authentication, routing, sessions and caching.
As more businesses recognize the value of Laravel, the demand for Laravel development services has grown exponentially. These services can greatly improve your web development projects by using the framework capabilities, best practices, and industry experience.
Key Features that Set Laravel Apart
Eloquent ORM (Object-Relational Mapping)
Eloquent ORM is the built-in ORM of Laravel and is considered one of the most advanced ORM implementations in PHP. It enables developers to work with database objects and their relationships using simple, easy-to-understand language. This simplifies the code as well as eliminates the requirement for manual SQL queries, with the guarantee that data access is secure and efficient.
Artisan Console
Artisan is a command-line interface of Laravel built into the framework itself. It offers a wide range of useful commands for building a Laravel app.
Artisan provides the ability to automate those tedious, repetitive tasks which are normally manual and non-productive. It is also able to generate template code for new controllers, models and migrations, which can then be modified to fit specific needs, hence accelerating the entire process of development.
Template Engine (Blade)
Laravel’s Blade templating engine is incredibly flexible and powerful, yet it allows developers to use plain PHP code in the templates. Unlike many PHP templating engines, Blade does not restrict you from using code in views, making it possible to implement complex data operations right within the template, while still keeping the syntax clean and readable.
Security
Laravel provides a robust security framework that is fundamental to the development of web applications. It has built-in protections against common threats such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and cross-site request forgery (CSRF). Laravel uses hashed passwords, meaning the actual password is never stored in the database, just a secure hash of it.
Libraries & Modular
Laravel comes with pre-built libraries and modules that make it easier to enhance an application’s capabilities without building features from scratch. One of the standout libraries is the Authentication library, which is easy to implement and can be customized to meet specific needs, providing a ready-to-use way to integrate secure authentication methods into applications.
Automated Task Scheduling
Laravel’s command scheduler allows the programmatic scheduling of periodically executed tasks. Traditionally, developers have had to generate a Cron entry for each task they need to be scheduled. Laravel simplifies this with a fluent, expressive interface to define command schedules within Laravel itself, making it easier to manage tasks directly through the framework.
Also Read: Next.js vs React – Which One to Choose for Your Front-end Development in 2024
Laravel vs. The Competition
Laravel vs. The Competition
Performance Optimization
Laravel often outperforms its competitors due to built-in caching mechanisms and optimization tools, such as route caching, configuration caching, and view compilation. Unlike some frameworks like Zend, which may require manual optimization techniques, Laravel provides straightforward commands to boost performance, making it inherently faster and more efficient for complex applications.
Built-in Tools
Laravel comes with several pre-packaged tools such as Eloquent ORM, migration system, and seeding that are not as robust or even available in some other PHP frameworks like CodeIgniter. This suite of tools can significantly reduce development time and increase productivity by eliminating the need to write boilerplate code.
Community Support and Ecosystem
Laravel boasts a large, active community and a rich ecosystem, which includes comprehensive forums, extensive tutorials, video resources, and third-party packages. This is a contrast to smaller communities like that of Phalcon, where fewer resources and community support can limit problem-solving and learning opportunities.
Scalability
Laravel’s ability to scale is comparable to that of any leading framework. It manages resources efficiently and can handle large-scale applications with ease. This stands in contrast to some PHP frameworks that might struggle under the weight of enterprise-level user loads or complex back-end operations.
Conclusion
Laravel continues to lead in the PHP framework domain due to its ease of use, comprehensive feature set, and robust community support. Whether it’s the intuitive syntax or security features, Laravel provides a foundation that facilitates both simple and complex web application development.
Leveraging the expertise of a reliable Laravel development company like Shiv Technolabs, you can maximize the potential of Laravel to achieve your web development goals effectively and efficiently.