Laravel is an open-source PHP framework, which is robust and easy to understand. It follows a model-view-controller design pattern. Laravel reuses the existing components of different frameworks which helps in creating a web application. The web application thus designed is more structured and pragmatic.
Laravel offers a rich set of functionalities which incorporates the basic features of PHP frameworks like CodeIgniter, Yii and other programming languages like Ruby on Rails. Laravel has a very rich set of features which will boost the speed of web development.
If you are familiar with Core PHP and Advanced PHP, Laravel will make your task easier. It saves a lot time if you are planning to develop a website from scratch. Moreover, a website built in Laravel is secure and prevents several web attacks.
Advantages of Laravel
Laravel offers you the following advantages, when you are designing a web application based on it −
The web application becomes more scalable, owing to the Laravel framework.
Considerable time is saved in designing the web application, since Laravel reuses the components from other framework in developing web application.
It includes namespaces and interfaces, thus helps to organize and manage resources.
Composer
Composer is a tool which includes all the dependencies and libraries. It allows a user to create a project with respect to the mentioned framework (for example, those used in Laravel installation). Third party libraries can be installed easily with help of composer.
All the dependencies are noted in composer.json file which is placed in the source folder.
Artisan
Command line interface used in Laravel is called Artisan. It includes a set of commands which assists in building a web application. These commands are incorporated from Symphony framework, resulting in add-on features in Laravel 5.1 (latest version of Laravel).
Features of Laravel
Laravel offers the following key features which makes it an ideal choice for designing web applications −
Modularity
Laravel provides 20 built in libraries and modules which helps in enhancement of the application. Every module is integrated with Composer dependency manager which eases updates.
Testability
Laravel includes features and helpers which helps in testing through various test cases. This feature helps in maintaining the code as per the requirements.
Routing
Laravel provides a flexible approach to the user to define routes in the web application. Routing helps to scale the application in a better way and increases its performance.
Configuration Management
A web application designed in Laravel will be running on different environments, which means that there will be a constant change in its configuration. Laravel provides a consistent approach to handle the configuration in an efficient way.
