Laravel has turned out as the most popular PHP framework in recent years. The growth and adoption of Laravel can be attributed to its expressive syntax, elegant code structure and robust feature set. Laravel helps developers build high-performing, scalable web applications rapidly.
As we step into 2023, Laravel continues to be the top choice for PHP developers across the globe. Here are 20 compelling reasons that make Laravel the best PHP framework for 2023.
20 Compelling Reasons Why Laravel Is Best PHP Framework
Discover what makes Laravel the top choice in PHP frameworks for 2023 with these 20 compelling reasons.
Expressive MVC Architecture
Laravel follows the Model-View-Controller architectural pattern, which structures code neatly into logical components. The Eloquent ORM enables interacting with the database easily using an expressive object-oriented syntax. Database migrations simplify evolving the schema without writing SQL.
Intuitive Routing
Laravel has a simple yet powerful routing system. Clean URIs can be defined for application routes using closures or controller classes. Advanced features like route model binding and route grouping help organize routes and assign common middleware.
Blade Templating Engine
The Blade templating engine makes writing PHP templates highly intuitive through an elegant syntax inspired by JavaScript frameworks. It reduces tedious boilerplate code through template inheritance, sections, and layouts. Blade also provides handy shortcuts, caching, and protection against injection attacks.
Accelerated Development with Artisan
Laravel offers many Artisan commands via Composer packages that accelerate development. For example, ‘make:model’ generates model boilerplates, while ‘make:migration’ creates database migration files. Artisan can auto-generate code scaffolds for queues, notifications, events etc.
Eloquent Active Record ORM
The Eloquent ORM implements the Active Record pattern for interacting with the database through an expressive object-oriented interface. Its powerful query builder methods allow fetching and manipulating data easily without writing SQL.
Database Migrations
Database migrations enable managing changes to the database schema safely like version control. Laravel’s schema builder can create tables, columns, indexes fluently. Migrations facilitate collaborating with teams on evolving the database layout.
Robust Mail and Notification System
Laravel provides a simple API for sending emails via SMTP, Mailgun, Postmark, Amazon SES etc. The mail classes support attachments, templates and more. Notifications can be sent across channels like mail, SMS, Slack etc.
Built-in Authentication System
Laravel comes with a robust authentication system out of the box for register/login/logout flows. It supports password reset, email verification, authentication through APIs and social networks like Facebook, Twitter etc.
Powerful Dependency Injection
The service container facilitates injecting dependencies into classes automatically via constructor type-hinting. Loose coupling between classes is enabled through inversion of control. Dependency injection improves testability.
Flexible File Storage
The filesystem class provides a unified API for managing local, cloud (S3, Rackspace) and remote file storage. Files can be easily uploaded, retrieved and manipulated. Custom file drivers can also be created.
Caching and Performance
Laravel includes support for popular caching backends like Redis, Memcached etc. Caching improves application performance by reducing database trips for repeated data. Cache tags allow busting related cache items efficiently.
API Development with Passport
Laravel Passport provides a full OAuth2 server implementation for API authentication using access tokens and refresh tokens. API resources can be easily scoped and secured. API authentication and authorization become simple.
Frontend Scaffolding with Jetstream
Laravel Jetstream provides frontend scaffolding for typical web applications with login, registration, email verification, two-factor authentication, API support out of the box.
Expressive MVC Architecture
Laravel implements the Model-View-Controller software architectural pattern that structures an application neatly into logical components. Models represent the data and business logic. Views display the user interface. Controllers handle input and orchestrate the app flow. This separation of concerns makes the codebase easier to understand and maintain.
The Eloquent ORM allows interacting with the database using an intuitive object-oriented syntax instead of writing raw SQL queries. Complex database operations can be performed easily using Eloquent models. Database migrations provide a way to incrementally modify the database schema to fit evolving requirements. Migrations make it easy to roll back changes if needed.
Intuitive Routing
Laravel provides a simple yet powerful routing system. Clean and expressive URIs can be defined for application routes using closures or controller classes. Advanced routing features like route model binding eliminates the need to manually fetch models by injecting them into routes automatically based on type-hinted parameters. Route grouping allows assigning common attributes like middleware, namespaces, prefixes to logically related routes. This helps organize large applications.
Blade Templating Engine
Blade is a fast, extensible templating engine that comes bundled with Laravel. It aims to provide an elegant syntax that feels intuitive when writing PHP templates. Some key features are template inheritance for reusing common page elements, sections to group content blocks, and layouts that wrap around views. These reduce tedious boilerplate code. Blade also provides handy shortcuts and convenience methods like loop structures, template includes, conditional statements etc. Templates can be cached for better performance. Security measures guard against injection attacks.
Accelerated Development with Artisan
Artisan is the command line interface included with Laravel for running helpful commands that accelerate development. For example, ‘make:model’ and ‘make:migration’ quickly generate model classes and database migration files with proper namespaces and paths. Artisan offers commands to generate boilerplate code for controllers, jobs, tests etc. Queues, notifications, events and more can be auto-generated by Artisan. These code generation features provide a productivity boost and enforce consistency across projects.
Eloquent Active Record ORM
The Eloquent ORM that ships with Laravel implements the Active Record pattern. This allows interacting with the database using an object-oriented model vs writing raw SQL queries. Eloquent models represent tables with built-in methods like find(), update(), delete() etc to perform CRUD operations easily. The query builder provides over 20 methods like where(), join(), groupBy() etc that allow fetching and manipulating data with an expressive syntax. Joins, aggregates, subqueries and more can be constructed fluidly.
Database Migrations
Migrations provide a way to manage changes made to the database schema in a consistent, version controlled manner. The schema builder included in migrations allows creating tables, columns, indexes and other constraints fluently. Existing schema can also be modified incrementally through migrations. Migrations make it easy for teams to collaborate on the application database schema. Database state can be versioned and upgrades as well as rollbacks can be done smoothly via migrations.
Robust Mail and Notification System
Laravel provides a clean API over SwiftMailer for sending emails via SMTP, Mailgun, Postmark, Amazon SES or other transport mechanisms. Emails can be sent in the background via queues to improve application response time. Templated emails allow reusable email layouts and designs. In addition to mail, the notification system supports sending notifications via channels like SMS, Slack, database and more. Scheduling notifications is easy.
When looking to build a new web application using Laravel, it is important to have experienced Laravel and PHP developers. Here are some tips to keep in mind while you hire Laravel developers :
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Look for developers well-versed in PHP 7 and above, along with good knowledge of Laravel conventions and Lumen for APIs.
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Code samples of previous Laravel projects would be useful to evaluate proficiency in the framework.
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Check experience with related technologies like Composer, Artisan, Blade, Eloquent ORM, Redis etc.
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Laravel projects often use JavaScript extensively, so JavaScript skills are a plus for full-stack roles.
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Soft skills like communication, teamwork and discipline are key for long-term retention.
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Remote Laravel developers can offer cost savings and access to global talent. In-house teams allow close coordination and culture building.
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Developing a technical assessment focused on Laravel and PHP is helpful for vetting candidates.
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Consulting Laravel development agencies is an option when lacking dev teams. Agencies can get projects live quickly.
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For strategic projects, dedicated development team from specialized firms provide talent consistency.
With robust features for web development, Laravel enables rapid delivery of high-quality applications. Hiring skilled Laravel and PHP developers is key to harnessing the capabilities of this top PHP framework in 2023.
