Laravel Framework

Why Laravel?

• Packaging System
  A packaging system works with several libraries or support programs that assist the web application in automating the procedure. To maintain all the data required to manage packages, Laravel Framework uses a composer for dependency management. Packages offer the functionality we require right out of the box, which is a terrific method to speed up development. Some of the top Laravel packages are Image, Laravel Debug bar, and Laravel IDE aid.
   
• Multiple File System
  In addition to local storage, Laravel Framework provides built-in support for cloud storage platforms like Amazon S3 and Rack space Cloud Storage. Since the APIs of each system is the same, switching between these storage solutions is simple. All three technologies may be combined into a single program to serve files from several places, as in a distributed environment.
   
• Artisan Console
  Artisan is the name of Laravel's command-line interface. 
  Publishing package assets, seeding, creating boilerplate code for new controllers, and managing database migrations, models, and migrations are a few common uses of Artisan. The developer can avoid writing correct code skeletons because of this functionality. Adding additional custom commands can increase Artisan's functionality and capabilities.
• Eloquent ORM
  Laravel's integrated ORM is called Eloquent ORM. The best object-relational mapper among the competing frameworks is found in Laravel  Framework. Thanks to this object-relational mapping, you may interact with the objects and relationships in your database using expressive syntax.
   
• Templating engine
  Blade Template Engine is the default template engine included with Laravel Framework. To build the final views, the Blade templating engine does is that it combines one or more templates with a data model and turns the templates into cached PHP code. Additionally, Blade offers a collection of internal control structures mapped to their PHP equivalents, including conditional statements and loops.

Composer in Laravel

A tool called a composer contains all the libraries and dependencies. It enables the user to develop a project related to the given framework. With a composer's assistance, installing third-party libraries is simple.

The composer.json file in the source folder contains a list of all the dependencies.

Artisan in Laravel

Laravel Framework uses a command line interface known as Artisan. It includes several commands that help with creating web applications. The Symphony framework's controls are implemented into Laravel 5.1 as add-on functionality (the latest version of Laravel  Framework).

Benefits of Laravel Framework

The following benefits of using Laravel when creating a web application are available to you:

• The Laravel framework helps the web application become more scalable.
   
• Since Laravel reuses the components from another framework when developing the web application, a significant amount of time is saved.
   
• It comprises namespaces and interfaces, which aid with resource management and organization.

Features of Laravel

Below are some of the most important features of Laravel.

• The syntax of Laravel is very clean and expressive, which makes development simpler.
   
• Laravel provides the user with a more rapid development experience as it follows MVC architecture.
   
• Laravel's ORM, called Eloquent, allows users to query the database tables using a simple PHP syntax.
   
• It has a built-in tool called Artisan which can perform repetitive tasks for the developer.
   
• Laravel provides a creative template engine that allows developers to create a dynamic website.
   
• Laravel has a rich community with vibrant forums and resources.

Is Laravel Frontend or Backend?

Although it does include some front-end features, Laravel Framework is mainly a backend development framework. But many of Laravel's features are independent of the front end.

Is Laravel a Programming Language?

• Instead of using the standard PHP programming language, the Laravel framework uses a scripting language. 
   
• Despite their similarities, scripting languages and programming languages differ in several important ways, most notably in their usability and speed of execution.
   
• Scripting languages are interpreted platform-specific languages.
   
•  Programming languages, in contrast, are compiled platform-neutral languages. 
   
• Scripting languages depend on the application's compiler because they are platform-specific. 
   
• Scripting language applications are constructed at runtime, which means that each instruction is processed separately, making the application slower than one precompiled. Precompiled apps do error checking during compilation, making them more robust at runtime, in contrast to runtime compilation, which causes the application to stop or shut down if it meets a runtime fault. 
   
• However, the benefits of scripting languages' usability and iteration for many users outweigh their drawbacks.

What is Laravel Used For?

The feature set of Laravel Framework is far too broad to be fully covered in this quick summary. Several of the more essential characteristics include:

• Route Management
  Laravel Framework offers easy and intuitive route handling, identifying routes with short names rather than lengthy path names. Additionally, using route IDs simplifies application maintenance because changes to the route name only need to be made once rather than everywhere. The routes/web.php file in a Laravel application registers all web interface routes.
   
• Security
  User authentication, user role authorizations, email verification, encryption services, password hashing, and password reset tools are just a few security features that Laravel offers.
   
• Migration
  Using migrations, Laravel Framework offers version control for application databases. A database's modifications throughout time are tracked by migrations, which makes it simpler to delete or recreate a database as needed.
   
• Templating
  Laravel's PHP templating engine is called The Blade. Business logic and HTML templates are separated by PHP templating engines, resulting in a code base that is simpler to maintain. Blade templates are a vital component of several Laravel functionalities. Because Blade permits the usage of short PHP code, which other templating engines do not, Blade offers more functionality than the competition.
   
• Sessions
  Laravel Framework uses sessions to save user data across several requests. Cookies are an example of built-in Laravel sessions.
   
• Validation of Data
  The validation of incoming user data is made simple by Laravel. Several data validation rules with customizable error messages are included in Laravel.
   
• Cache Management
  Data caching is supported by Laravel to speed up application job processing. Memcached and Redis are only a couple of the third-party. 
   
• Error Handling
  Starting a new Laravel project automatically configures error handling. Applications written in Laravel can be launched in debug mode, producing detailed error messages for any mistake.
   
• Testing 
  Laravel provides significant testing data right out of the box. Laravel offers feature testing, which examines more extensive regions of regulation and higher-level functionality, and unit testing, which examines discrete, small portions of application code.
   
• File and Storage Management
  To provide drivers for working with different filesystems, including local filesystems and cloud-based storage like Amazon S3, Laravel employs the Flysystem PHP package. SSH File Transfer Protocol is also included with Laravel for file transfers (SFTP).
   
• Email
  SwiftMailer-based email API is a feature of Laravel that enables email over various services. Email queuing and Laravel supports email attachments.
   
• Notifications
  Using channels created by the Laravel community or well-known channels like SMS or Slack, Laravel enables sending notifications across various channels.
   

Must Read PHP Projects With Source Code

How Does Laravel Work?

The request lifecycle and how Laravel handles requests are crucial to fully appreciating what Laravel is capable of. As was already said, Laravel is based on the MVC architecture and responds to user requests by retrieving and processing data from the model and displaying it to the user in a view.

The public/index.php file serves as the entry point for requests into Laravel applications, loading the rest of the framework and retrieving an instance of the Laravel application in the process. The proposal is then forwarded to the console kernel or HTTP kernel after recovering the application instance. The kernel specifies various bootstrappers that carry out activities that must be finished before request handling occurs and any middleware that requests must pass through before being handled. The loading of any service providers needed by the application is one of these pre-handling actions.

The request proceeds to the router, which routes it to a route or a controller after bootstrapping are finished, and service providers have registered. The router also executes any route-specific middleware that is necessary. The execution of a route or controller method results in a response passed back along the chain to the View after the request has gone through all appropriate middleware.

Must Read: Laravel Facades

Advantages of Laravel

The advantages of Laravel are:

• Elegant Syntax: Laravel is known for its clean and expressive syntax, making it pleasant for developers to write and maintain code.
• Modularity and Organization: The framework follows the MVC pattern, promoting modularity and separation of concerns, which enhances code organization and maintainability.
• Eloquent ORM: Eloquent provides an elegant and intuitive way to interact with databases, simplifying database operations and reducing the need for complex SQL queries.
• Blade Templating Engine: Blade is a lightweight yet powerful templating engine, offering features like template inheritance and control structures, making it easy to create dynamic views.
• Artisan Console: Laravel's Artisan command-line tool automates various development tasks, streamlining processes like database migrations, testing, and code generation.
• Laravel Mix: Laravel Mix simplifies asset compilation and management, providing a convenient API for defining webpack build steps for assets like CSS and JavaScript.

Disadvantages of Laravel

The disadvantages of Laravel are:

• Learning Curve: For beginners, the learning curve might be steep, especially if they are new to PHP frameworks or MVC architecture.
• Performance Overhead: While Laravel provides many features, some developers argue that it may introduce a performance overhead compared to more lightweight frameworks.
• Opinionated: Laravel comes with certain conventions and opinions, which might limit flexibility for developers who prefer more control over the application's structure.
• Size of Community: While the Laravel community is significant, it might not be as large as some other frameworks, potentially leading to fewer resources for specific issues.
• Artisan Commands Dependency: Heavy reliance on Artisan commands might be a disadvantage for developers who prefer a more GUI-based development environment.
• Database Schema Changes: While Laravel's migrations are powerful, making certain complex changes to database schemas might be challenging compared to manual SQL scripts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Laravel a good framework?

Laravel has excellent features to make web development effortless for developers. One can use it to build different types of software websites and applications, from news sites and CMSs to simple networking platforms.

Which language is used in Laravel?

Laravel is a PHP web framework. Therefore, the primary programming language used in Laravel is PHP. PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a server-side scripting language widely used for web development. Laravel leverages the features of PHP to provide a clean and expressive syntax, making it easier for developers to build modern and maintainable web applications.

What is MVC?

MVC stands for Model-View-Controller. It is the way to lay out any web project. The model is for the database, the View is for static files, and the controller is used as an interface between the model and the View. 

Which is better, Python or Laravel?

"Clean architecture," "Growing community," and "Composer-friendly" are the key factors why developers consider Laravel, whereas "Readable code," "Great libraries," and "Beautiful code" are some reasons why Python is favoured.

Is Laravel oop based?

Laravel is built using object-oriented PHP, so yes, knowledge of OOP will be beneficial in understanding the framework code and writing your objects that use the classes and methods provided by Laravel.

Conclusion

In this article, we have extensively discussed Laravel Framework. I hope you enjoyed this blog on Laravel Framework.

Also, check out these exciting courses from coding ninjas to expand your knowledge, Coding Course, Code Studio, Interview Experience, Guided Path, Interview Problems, Test Series, Library, and Resources.