What is Laravel?
Laravel is a free and open-source PHP web framework created by Taylor Otwell and intended for the development of web applications following the model–view–controller (MVC) architectural pattern and based on Symfony. It is one of the most popular PHP frameworks, known for its elegance, simplicity, and expressiveness.
Laravel provides a wide range of features to help developers build modern web applications, including:
- A robust routing system
- A powerful templating engine
- A built-in authentication and authorization system
- An object-relational mapper (ORM) for interacting with databases
- A command-line interface (CLI) for automating common tasks
- A rich ecosystem of third-party packages and extensions
Laravel is used by developers of all skill levels to build a wide variety of web applications, from simple blogs and websites to complex e-commerce platforms and social media networks. Some notable websites and apps built with Laravel include:
- Laravel itself
- Laravel Nova (an admin panel for Laravel applications)
- Envato (a marketplace for digital assets)
- Razorpay (a payment gateway)
- Barchart (a financial data and news website)
Laravel is a great choice for developers who want to build modern, secure, and scalable web applications. It is also a good choice for beginners, as it is easy to learn and has a large and active community.
Here are some of the reasons why Laravel is so popular:
- It is easy to learn and use, even for beginners.
- It has a large and active community, which means there is plenty of help and support available.
- It is very powerful and flexible and can be used to build a wide variety of web applications, from simple blogs to complex e-commerce platforms.
- It is secure and scalable, making it a good choice for high-traffic websites and applications.
- It is free and open-source, so there are no licensing fees.
Key features of Laravel:
The key features of Laravel include:
MVC architecture support: Laravel supports the model-view-controller (MVC) architectural pattern, which helps you to write clean, organized, and maintainable code.
Eloquent ORM:
Laravel includes an object-relational mapper (ORM) called Eloquent, which makes it easy to interact with your database.
Blade templating engine:
Laravel includes a templating engine called Blade, which makes it easy to create dynamic views for your application.
Authentication and authorization:
Laravel includes built-in authentication and authorization features, making it easy to protect your application from unauthorized access.
Artisan command-line interface:
Laravel includes a command-line interface (CLI) called Artisan, which can be used to automate common tasks such as generating code, running migrations, and seeding your database.
Testing framework:
Laravel includes a built-in testing framework that makes it easy to test your application code.
Job queues:
Laravel includes support for job queues, which allow you to defer the processing of long-running tasks until later.
Task scheduling:
Laravel includes support for task scheduling, which allows you to schedule tasks to be run at specific times or intervals.
Security features:
Laravel includes a variety of security features, such as input validation, password hashing, and CSRF protection, to help you keep your application secure.
Large community and ecosystem:
Laravel has a large and active community, and there is a wide ecosystem of third-party packages and extensions available.
In addition to these core features, Laravel also includes several other features that make it a great choice for developing modern web applications, such as:
Routing:
Laravel provides a robust and flexible routing system.
Caching:
Laravel includes support for caching, which can improve the performance of your application.
Event system:
Laravel includes an event system that allows you to decouple your code and make it more reusable.
WebSockets support:
Laravel includes support for WebSockets, which allows you to create real-time applications.
Overall, Laravel is a powerful and flexible PHP framework that offers a wide range of features to help developers build modern, secure, and scalable web applications.
What’s new in Laravel9
Laravel 9 is a major release of the Laravel framework that includes several new features and improvements. Some of the most notable changes include:
Symfony Mailer:
Laravel 9 now uses the new Symfony Mailer for sending emails. The Symfony Mailer provides a more powerful and flexible way to send emails, and it is also more efficient than the previous mail driver.
Flysystem 3.0 support:
Laravel 9 now supports Flysystem 3.0, which is a new version of the Flysystem filesystem abstraction library. Flysystem 3.0 provides several new features and improvements, such as support for multiple adapters and better performance.
Improved route: list output:
The route: list command now displays more information about each route, such as the HTTP method, middleware, and action.
New Laravel Scout database driver:
Laravel 9 includes a new Laravel Scout database driver, which can be used to index and search your database using the full-text search capabilities of your database engine.
New Eloquent accessor/mutator syntax:
Laravel 9 includes a new syntax for Eloquent accessors and mutators. This new syntax is more concise and easier to read.
Implicit route bindings via Enums:
Laravel 9 now supports implicit route bindings via enums. This allows you to bind route parameters to enum values without having to explicitly define the route bindings.
In addition to these new features, Laravel 9 also includes several other improvements, such as bug fixes, performance optimizations, and new helper functions.
New key features of Laravel 9
Improved Collections IDE Support:
Laravel 9 adds improved, “generic” style type definitions to the collections component, improving IDE and static analysis support.
Anonymous Stub Migration:
Laravel 9 adds support for anonymous stub migrations, which can be helpful in creating migrations that are only needed for a specific release of your application.
New Query Builder Interface:
Laravel 9 adds a new query builder interface, which provides a more consistent and type-safe way to interact with your database.
Support for PHP 8 String Functions:
Laravel 9 now uses the latest PHP 8 string functions internally, which can improve performance and readability.
Controller Route Groups:
Laravel 9 introduces controller route groups, which allow you to group related routes and apply middleware to the entire group.
Full-Text Indexes/Where Clauses:
Laravel 9 now supports full-text indexes and where clauses, allowing you to perform powerful text searches on your database.
Rendering a Blade String:
Laravel 9 adds the ability to render a Blade string without having to create a view file.
Bootstrap 5 Pagination Views:
Laravel 9 now uses Bootstrap 5 pagination views by default.
New Helper Functions:
Laravel 9 includes several new helper functions, such as str_contains(), str_starts_with(), and str_ends_with().