Hey, do you know why Laravel is developers choice for building Php based web applications? Don’t worry! If you don’t know let me tell you…
The Laravel Framework
Laravel is the modern Php framework providing you with the scalability, performance, and the features you need to develop a smooth, robust and advanced web application. Addition to it, the MVC architecture makes it distinctive and more useful than Php.
App customization is always been a tedious task. Laravel attempts to eliminate the pain of writing lengthy codes for a single functionality and allow developers to create apps effortlessly and in shape the way clients require. It is also a unique framework because you can create your own app-specific infrastructure.
MVC Architecture, The Key For Pretty Development
The three-tier architecture namely Model, View and Controller enhances developing and organizes the interaction between implementation files for faster response.
Still, if you are unclear, view the diagram below.
From End-User Viewpoint
As a user, we only check out the app interaction and user-friendliness but never dive deep into how the things flow. Above diagram gives you the clear and in-depth idea of how the app responds to the requested information and displays on the screen.
From Developer Viewpoint
Being a developer, you have a sound knowledge about different layers, but you are unaware of the fact that selecting MVC architecture reduces your development time and improves error solving ability. Good question, How?
Let’s take an example of MVC in JSP (Java Servlet Page);
View Layer
This layer is representing a form containing two fields, email, and password.
The Post method describes that your data is encrypted and secured. The information you’ve passed into the model layer will not be leaked anywhere.
Controller Layer
The class MVC servlet extends the base class HttpServlet to use that class object in the doPost function. You call that function while sending the request to retrieve the information from the model layer. The functions that control the app are written in this layer.
Model Layer
This class represents your database where the data is stored and retrieved on request. You set or precisely you store your email and encrypted password in the database when you enter for the first time. The second time you retrieve or get the data from the database.
You are now probably clear about Laravel framework and MVC architecture. There’s enough information in my bag to share and acquaint you with this #1 Php framework.
Being an open-source framework does not make the framework impressive and useful. What makes it more useful is its features.
So, here are enthralling features of Laravel that make developing beautiful for web developers.
-Session:
As a developer, you are versed in different sessions and its usage. There are several sessions managed in the back-end while a user navigates the site such as login, cookie, favorite item, cart and the list goes on. Laravel allows you to handle the user requests using session drivers easily. In order to use session driver, you need to first configure the session file writing “config/session.php” in the command line and later to retrieve or store data in the session you can make use of global session helper.
-Authentication:
You put a lot of efforts in writing that perfect code for website authentication. But, Alas! You just keep on making amendments to the code using trial and error methods and still, you fail to make it perfectly working. Laravel eliminates the complexities by handling authentication using inbuilt authentication controllers.
-Caching:
You know that caching is the temporary storage that stores the data for a while. This functionality is not inbuilt, you write good lines of code for that. Isn’t it? Laravel has come up with this useful feature that reduces the time of accessing the database several times and speed up the app performance 6X times faster.
-Facades:
Facades literally mean many faces. Just like its literal meaning, this singleton feature caters access to almost all the Laravel features. It serves as a static interface to all the classes listed in the service container allowing you to directly inherit them using “use Illuminate\Support\Facades\” namespace.
-Routing:
This feature is not new in Laravel but yes it gets updated with the new versions. Routing shows the list of URL that redirects to a particular page. Pretty routes are that one package helping you to view the routes of your website writing a single line of code in the command line “php artisan route:list”.
The above-listed features require less coding as there are different controllers listed in the service container giving you a free space to make the best use of your time in developing exclusive web apps.
Now you may be thinking what’s next in my bag?
Laravel Homestead
In a nutshell, Homestead is the virtual home of Laravel. No need to install Php or any other software on your local machine. It automatically manages a set of tasks which you as developers do manually via Vagrant and PuPHPet.
Why is Laravel Homestead best to opt?
-Easy to Setup
-Installs on ubuntu 14.4 with Php 5.5
-Flexible and loosely typed.
-Vast community to assist in identifying and solving problems
-Easy connectivity to different ports
-Serving multiple projects on a single virtual machine
Despite a few missing features, it is considered to be a stable Php Vagrant environment because it is not stubborn on variables, fast to boot, consists of fewer dependencies which break at up time and most importantly a modern and flexible environment that controls the interruptions without breaking the code.
Have you heard of Lumen? No? Here you go...
Lumen
It’s is an amazingly fast micro-framework designed by Laravel.
What’s unique?
-Access to all the major features of Laravel such as eloquent ORM, routing, dependency injection, queued jobs, error handling, database abstraction, logging and scheduling commands.
-Specially designed to implement fast responsive micro-services and API’s.
-Cost effective. Applications developed in Lumen requires less server power.
-Use of Laravel and Lumen together can create spellbinding micro-services enabled application
What’s missing?
-Lumen is less configurable. Meaning, you are less likely to make drastic changes in the framework.
-Not allowed to access additional Laravel packages
-Symfony Routing components are not accessed to map the application performance instead, /- is used.
-Lumen may not handle millions of user request per day therefore, it’s better to use power-packed Laravel Framework.
Despite drawbacks, Lumen is the fastest micro-framework best-supporting Laravel in building robust and micro-service driven applications.
GoodFirm’s Two Cents
Being a research firm, we suggest you what bests suits your business nature. And, Laravel is the framework that does not tangle the code instead it structures the code in the aforementioned parameters, i.e MVC and brings out a unique masterpiece out of its virtual dwell. This framework has influenced small as well as big sized Php development companies for developing web-based applications.The choice is yours!
