An introduction to Laravel: The PHP framework for modern web development
Tags: webdev, laravel, php, softwaredevelopment
Published: 2023-09-06 06:21:48

Laravel is a PHP web application framework and it has emerged as a game-changer in the world of web development. Since its release in 2011 by Taylor Otwell, it has gained immense popularity among developers due to its elegant syntax, robust features, and a thriving community. This is an introductory blog post to explore what makes Laravel a top choice for modern web development and why you should use it for your next big project.

## Why Laravel?
Laravel was created with a focus on simplicity, readability, and ease of use. It's designed to help developers build scalable and maintainable web applications with less effort. Here are some compelling reasons why Laravel stands out:

- Elegant Syntax: Laravel's syntax is clean, expressive, and enjoyable to work with. It simplifies common tasks and reduces boilerplate code.

- Modularity: The framework is built on a modular structure, allowing developers to use components like authentication, routing, and caching independently, giving them more flexibility.

- Blade Templating: Laravel's Blade templating engine provides an intuitive and powerful way to create dynamic views with reusable templates.

- Database Query Builder: Laravel's database query builder and ORM (Eloquent) make it easy to work with databases, simplifying tasks like database migrations and querying.

- Artisan CLI: Laravel comes with a command-line tool called Artisan, which automates repetitive tasks and allows developers to create custom commands effortlessly.

- Strong Community: Laravel boasts a large and active community of developers who contribute to packages, tutorials, and extensions. This community support is invaluable for learning and troubleshooting.

## Key Features of Laravel
Laravel is packed with a ton of features that will make your web development journey a bliss ✨👌

- Authentication and Authorization: Laravel simplifies user authentication and authorization, making it easy to protect routes and control access to your application. With amazing starter kit packages like [Laravel Breeze](https://laravel.com/docs/10.x/starter-kits)  you can add authentication easily in your application by scaffolding it with the routes, controllers, and views you need to register and authenticate your application's users. 

- Routing: Defining routes in Laravel is straightforward, thanks to the expressive routing system.

```
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
 
Route::get('/greeting', function () {
    return 'Hello World';
});
```

- Middleware: Middleware allows you to filter HTTP requests entering your application. It's great for tasks like authentication, logging, and more.

- Eloquent ORM: Eloquent, Laravel's ORM, provides an intuitive way to interact with databases. It offers relationships, eager loading, and model factories.

```
php artisan make:model Flight -m
```
The command creates a model and a migration for the database you can edit to suit your ideal model and database structure.

- Database Migrations: Laravel's migration system enables version control for your database schema, making it easy to work collaboratively.

- Testing: Laravel has excellent support for testing, with [PHPUnit](https://phpunit.de/) integration and a convenient testing environment.

- Task Scheduling: Schedule tasks like sending emails and generating reports with Laravel's elegant task scheduler.

```

    protected function schedule(Schedule $schedule): void
    {
        $schedule->call(function () {
            DB::table('recent_users')->delete();
        })->daily();
    }

```

## Getting Started with Laravel

To start using Laravel, you'll need PHP🐘, [Composer](https://getcomposer.org/download/) (a PHP package manager), and a web server (e.g., [Apache](https://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi)or [Nginx](https://www.nginx.com/)) installed on your machine. If you're using windows, you can set up [xampp](https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html) to have PHP and MySQL server installed in your machine. You can then create a new Laravel project using Composer with a simple command:

```
composer create-project laravel/laravel my-laravel-app

```

You can do the same by installing laravel installer

```
composer global require "laravel/installer"
```

Thereafter, you can create a new project using command

```
laravel new example-app
```

This will create a new Laravel project named example-app with the initial laravel files

You can then navigate to the project folder then run the Laravel project from the command line

```
cd example-app

php artisan serve
```
You can then access the project from your browser by accessing:

```
http://localhost:8080/
```
There is it! Your new laravel application.

## Conclusion

Laravel has revolutionized PHP web development by providing developers with a powerful and elegant framework for building modern web applications. Its simplicity, robust features, and active community support make it a top choice for web developers worldwide. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just getting started, Laravel is worth exploring as your go-to framework for crafting web applications that stand out in the digital landscape.