If you are a developer looking for a PHP framework to make backend web development streamlined, Laravel is one of the most popular choices available today. It’s an open-source web application framework that allows developers to build scalable and high-performance web applications with ease.
Laravel is also very developer-friendly, easy to learn, and provides great features to simplify many backend development tasks.
However, before you dive into Laravel, there are a few fundamental concepts and things you should know. In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know before jumping into Laravel development.
Introduction To Laravel
Laravel has made a name for itself in the world of web development, thanks to its ease of use, impressive speed, and the extensive range of features it offers. This PHP web application framework is an open-source platform that allows developers to create web applications with relative ease and speed.
Popularly known as the “PHP framework for Web Artisans”, Laravel features a modular architecture, integrates smoothly with third-party libraries and tools, and supports various databases.
Laravel offers great benefits to developers, including its powerful templating engine, an intuitive syntax, incredible routing, with many other features that make the development process smoother and faster.
Things You Need To Know About Laravel
So you’ve made the decision to learn Laravel. That sounds great, and all, but when it comes to learning something as complex as Laravel, you need to make sure you’re following the right track.
That being said, here’s a few things you need to know about Laravel beforehand:
Strong OOP knowledge
As a developer interested in learning Laravel, you should already have a good foundation in Object-Oriented Programming concepts. Since Laravel is written in PHP, OOP is the primary programming paradigm used in the framework.
Thus, it’s essential to understand core OOP concepts such as inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation, and abstraction. If you’re unfamiliar with OOP, it’s a good idea to brush up on these concepts before diving into Laravel.
Learn PHP
As we mentioned earlier, Laravel is built using PHP, so a good understanding of PHP is essential when learning Laravel. Laravel is an advanced PHP framework, so you should have a good grasp of core PHP concepts such as data types, loops, control structures, and functions. It’s also helpful to have experience with PHP frameworks such as CodeIgniter and Symfony, as they share many similarities with Laravel.
MVC Design Pattern
Laravel follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern, which is integral to the framework. The MVC pattern separates the application’s data, user interface, and control logic into three separate components to provide several benefits like code organisation and maintainability. Understanding the MVC pattern is crucial when building Laravel applications that are scalable and maintainable.
Artisan CLI
Artisan is a command-line interface (CLI) that comes with Laravel, which lets developers automate many common development tasks. These tasks include generating boilerplate code, database migrations, and testing.
Artisan is an essential tool for Laravel developers and is an impressive productivity booster. Getting familiar with Artisan and its commands is highly recommended to help you develop Laravel’s full potential.
Laravel Ecosystem
Lastly, learning Laravel requires an in-depth understanding of the Laravel ecosystem. Laravel has a vast community of developers, and there are numerous resources available to learn more about Laravel.
Laravel used to be hard to learn, but with more and more Laravel partners in the UK, there are hundreds of Laravel communities which makes it all the easier to learn it.
There are blogs, forums, and online courses, making it easy to learn Laravel. Also, Laravel has many packages available called “Laravel Packages” that extend Laravel’s functionality and make it easier to develop complex projects.
Bottom Line
Laravel is an excellent PHP framework that can make backend web development streamlined and more straightforward. However, before diving into Laravel, it’s essential to understand fundamental concepts such as OOP.
You should also be familiar with PHP frameworks such as CodeIgniter and Symfony as they share many similarities with Laravel. Additionally, it’s helpful to understand the MVC architecture design pattern, which is integral to building Laravel applications, whether you’re building one for yourself, working a remote job, or creating a business out of it.