Why Laravel Framework is the Best Choice for PHP Web Development

The popularity of Laravel is already on the rise, with over 73,000 stars on GitHub. I hope this blog provides you with an understanding of why Laravel is so popular and also how to use it to build an engaging and powerful website.

What makes Laravel so popular? The first step to answering that question is to understand what a PHP framework is.

The PHP Framework is a platform for the development of PHP web applications, which provides code libraries of commonly used functions to facilitate the efficient creation of a PHP application, as well as aiding in the creation of websites that are more scalable and secure. 

There are currently over 77% of websites globally with a server-side programming aspect that utilizes PHP in some form or another according to HubSpot.

Yii, Phalcon, CakePHP, Codeigniter, Symfony and others are among the many PHP frameworks available but Laravel maintains the first position due to the flexibility and  ease it offers to the web developers.

To get a better understanding of what Laravel is and how it can benefit your business, let’s dive deeper into it:

Laravel Framework: What is it?

The Laravel framework features an elegant and expressive syntax that makes the entire process of developing a web application easier, more enjoyable and way quicker for developers by getting rid of all the pain points that come with dealing with complex PHP code and as a result, making it easy to use.

The Laravel framework was designed by Taylor Otwell to simplify, speed up, and improve the coding process for website developers.

Laravel simplifies some of the usually performed functions like authentication, routing, caching, sessions and many others so that developers can dedicate more time to designing the business-related components of the web application.

Is Laravel a front-end or back-end framework?

To respond to the question, “Is Laravel a front-end or back-end framework? ”, simply, it is “backend.” To elaborate, “Laravel is essentially a PHP framework that is installed on the server side and sits upon the web page.” Laravel is intended for developing full-stack web apps, which include both front-end and back-end functionality.

Laravel Framework’s Top 5 Features-

As several PHP frameworks compete for limelight and attention, the market for PHP frameworks is somewhat crowded. 

There is, however, something that sets Laravel apart from other frameworks: its extensive feature list.

1. Engine for Blade Templates:

In comparison to other PHP templating engines, Laravel comes integrated with the Blade template engine. 

It is a very simple and yet a very powerful template engine. 

You can use plain PHP code in your views and it has no impact on the performance of your web app as it adds zero overheads. 

This extension provides a convenient shortcut for some common PHP functions, in addition to some added features such as displaying data and  template inheritance that will make the process of developing a web application more flexible.

2. Eloquent ORM:

Eloquent ORM in Laravel provides web developers with easy-to-use ActiveRecord implementation that enhances the task of interacting with servers and databases by allowing them to do so in a more efficient and user-friendly way. 

Using PHP syntax, they can write queries for the database and update or modify the database without having to know or write SQL queries.

3. Architecture of Laravel MVC:

Using Laravel, you can separate presentation layers from business logic using an MVC framework. 

MVC is an acronym for Model, View, and Controller. 

Basically, it divides the model process (data handling, logic) from the view process (user interface) and controller process.

Laravel is an MVC framework that offers many features, including increased security, scalability and excellent performance.

4. Open Source and Wide Community: 

Unlike with most PHP frameworks, which include a subscription fee, web developers can build their sites using Laravel, an open-source framework, that too for free. 

In addition to that, the framework is supported by a strong community, making it more advanced and versatile, as well as making the framework more robust.

5. Object-Oriented Libraries:

Developers can take advantage of a number of impressive features as a result of the Laravel PHP framework in-built object-oriented libraries.

The Laravel framework presents a number of advantages over other frameworks. 

This is why many organizations prefer to hire Laravel developers. 

Laravel Framework’s popularity can be attributed to the following reasons:

The following are the benefits of Laravel Web Development and what make it an essential tool for seamless and efficient implementation:

1. Laravel optimizes time-to-market:

In order to simplify common tasks, you can get help from the PHP framework Laravel in order to use its modular approach which simplifies common tasks.

A number of functions and structures are pre-built in Laravel that comply with PHP’s current standards, making it possible for developers to build responsive web applications very quickly. 

Developed since 2011, Laravel is a multi-platform open-source framework and it has continuously improved its resources over the years.

This is the reason why Laravel is able to build web applications more quickly and intuitively than other web frameworks. As a result of the use of Laravel, the process of writing code is simplified because you do not need to spend hours upon hours and weeks on each line of code. 

Because of this, it has proven to be both efficient and effective at delivering applications at a reasonable cost.

2. Authentication and Authorization improvements:

A more advanced alternative to Codelgniter, Laravel was created by Taylor Otwell as an alternative to the framework that lacked built-in authorization and authentication features.

Login, Registration, and Password Reset are incredibly easy and simple to integrate using the Laravel framework. 

All of this can be accomplished with one command in Laravel. Organizing authorization logic and controlling resource access is also made simple with it.

3. With Laravel Framework, you can Avoid Technical Vulnerabilities:

An essential part of the Laravel Web Development process is the secure implementation of web applications. 

A survey carried out by OWASP Foundation identified cross-site request forgery, SQL injection, cross-site scripting and other threats as the most significant security flaws for web applications.

When you progress through the software development lifecycle (SDLC), the time and cost it takes to fix these vulnerabilities grows exponentially. 

Based on the graph below, security vulnerabilities lead to an increase in costs.

As shown in the chart, eliminating vulnerabilities after production is 30x more expensive than identifying requirements and designing the architecture.

The greatest security threat against your web application is SQL injection, cross-site scripting and cross-site request forgery. 

These threats can only be protected by Laravel.

Laravel Framework: Why Use It?

Due to its high security levels and the fact that it doesn’t let security threats or malware activities enter into the web application. 

In other words, if you use Laravel for your PHP web app, you will be completely protected.

4. Laravel Framework MVC Architecture:

It is because of Laravel’s MVC-based architecture that it stands out from other PHP frameworks for the creation of websites as the best PHP framework for website development. 

When it comes to building a web application, MVC architecture comes with a variety of built-in features that developers can take advantage of to their fullest potential. 

Furthermore, the MVC architecture is more user-friendly than other PHP frameworks and provides greater documentation, better performance, as well as a variety of built-in functionalities unlike other PHP frameworks.

The Laravel MVC framework works as follows:

5. Unit and Automated Testing:

The Laravel Framework is one of the most popular web development frameworks because of its exceptional support for testing. 

There is no way to know for sure that an application is bug-free and is able to meet all of the initial requirements without thoroughly testing it.

This framework provides automation testing support that makes it easy to test your web apps without having to spend a lot of time doing so, making everything much more efficient. 

With the help of this tool, you can simulate the basic behavior of users by making requests, analyzing the outputs, and clicking on forms, which will allow you to test your application expressively.

In order to ensure that your application performs well after all the modules have been added together, the PHP Laravel framework comes with unit testing capabilities that allow you to test each individual component or module of your application. 

By optimizing web code, we achieve high-performance web apps that are easy to use.

6. Task Scheduling and Execution Automation:

To automate tasks when necessary, web applications need task scheduling mechanisms. 

You could send emails to your subscribers, send notifications to the users of the app, or complete a database cleaning project to speed up your web application.

Each task that web developers wanted to schedule was created as a Cron entry in the past. 

A Laravel command scheduler, however, saves you from this hassle. 

A Cron entry on your server is required to execute the task, which lets you define your schedule quickly and expressively within the framework itself.

This feature of the Laravel framework makes your web app fast and high-performing, while saving you money on hosting.

7. Managing Traffic:

As an application becomes more popular, handling its traffic becomes more challenging.

Presently, as the traffic a web application fetches increases, so does the number of requests it has to handle each second. 

A costly website hosting or even data loss could occur on the website server if the web application’s hosting costs are high.

There is no way you would want to be in such a situation.

Message queues are supported by Laravel Framework for load balancing. Using the system, an effective traffic management system can be maintained along with a healthy web server. 

A variety of queue backends can be used with the Laravel queue service. By deferring time-consuming tasks, like sending emails, queues allow your application to handle web requests more quickly.

Laravel was the first PHP framework to replace the Codeigniter platform. 

Before that Codeigniter was one of the most preferred frameworks in the market.

However, it lacked some vital components, such as built-in user authentication and authorization to make the application more versatile. 

This led to the creation of Laravel, which is regarded as the best PHP framework for creating beautiful websites till now.

Despite the fact that Laravel ranked at the top of the best PHP framework list and provides all of the above features, many web developers are still debating on Laravel vs Codeigniter.

For a clearer picture of the differences, we’ve provided a comparison table:

Laravel vs Codeigniter

With PHP frameworks becoming increasingly popular and trends shifting over time, it is natural to ask, “What is a better PHP framework: Laravel or Codeigniter?”

Laravel does provide many features that Codeigniter does not possess, as can be seen from the table. While Laravel is a good choice for most web applications, it does have some disadvantages as well.

Ruby on Rails and Django (a Python-based web framework) both offer greater in-built support than Laravel. 

Even though it is possible for you to solve the problem by incorporating third-party tools, the process of doing so can get tedious and time consuming for large-scale websites. 

The best PHP framework for your web app development should be chosen based on your business needs, just as you would with any other project development tech stack decision.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Laravel-

Laravel Advantages

• The interface is intuitive and the documentation is great
• Even beginners can easily understand and use the syntax
• Pre-Installed Libraries 
• Engine with High-Performance Blade Templating 
• Out-of-the-box authorization and security
• Adaptable and Robust

Laravel Disadvantages

• Compared to some frameworks, it is a tad bit slower
• There are fewer built-in features
• Security features are basic, but PHP’s inherent insecurities still limit it

Laravel-Based Popular Websites

1. Disney

Film studios, television, streaming media, theme parks, and consumer products are all part of this multinational entertainment and media giant.

2. The New York Times

In addition to its paper distribution, the newspaper also has an online distribution, making it one of the best-known and prominent newspapers around the globe.

3. Warner Bros

Founded in 1988, Warner Brothers Entertainment, commonly known as WB, has grown to become a multi-billion dollar entertainment and media company, famous for its film studios and television productions.

Conclusion

To conclude, Laravel has emerged as a leading choice for web development projects due to its robust set of features, modern architecture, and ease of use. 

By harnessing the power of this cutting-edge framework, businesses can efficiently build scalable, secure, and high-performance web applications that cater to their unique needs. 

Laravel’s extensive ecosystem, impressive security measures, and active community support make it an ideal option for both small and large-scale projects. 

By adopting Laravel, developers and organizations alike can streamline their web development processes and deliver exceptional digital experiences for their users.

Reach out to TIS a best Laravel development agency in India to harness cutting-edge solutions for web application development.

 

FAQs

1. Is Laravel a secure framework?

Through its libraries, Laravel adds additional layers of security to PHP itself, ensuring secure code is always available, as well as other security features such as tokens to prevent attacks from third parties, protections against cross-site scripting attacks, SQL injections, and an authentication system to prevent any unauthorized access. Unlike PHP, where developers need to build their own security systems and rules, Laravel provides most of these security protections.

2. What is the best way to authenticate a Laravel website effectively?

Laravel’s out-of-the-box authentication solution is one of the core ways it improves security. With Laravel, you can be assured that your passwords are not only hashed and encrypted, but you can also authenticate users, force password resets, set security minimums, and many other useful rules that ensure effective access control.

3. Do big projects work well with Laravel?

The Laravel framework is perfect for all kinds of websites, web applications, eCommerce sites, content management systems, and much more. In spite of the fact that Laravel is well suited to complex applications thanks to its queue system to speed up the processing of the application, it has the disadvantage of being slower than other frameworks and is not suitable for every large website because it will require more third-party tools to perform advanced functions (since there is less built in support). However, you need to take into account the type of project you are working on as well as the availability of the team of IT professionals who are skilled in Laravel to maintain it in the future.

 

About the Author:

This blog is authored by Nandini Pathak with an area of expertise in technology. Uniquely blending her legal background to create engaging content, she is passionately involved in emerging technology trends. An avid dog lover, her warmth and empathy enrich her writing style. Nandini’s passion for learning and her SEO proficiency ensure her work stays relevant and visible, making her an impactful content creator who seamlessly integrates personal pursuits with professional expertise in the technology domain.