The attention required and the complexity involved in developing advanced web applications and projects are quite high. Developers try to come up with various possibilities of using framework to create the web applications and  PHP framework stands out among them all in terms of well-organized and secure development possibilities. Laravel application framework, over the past 4 years has become one of the most popular PHP frameworks and has shown authoritative superiority over other platforms. One main reason for this exponential  rise is the ease at which the developers were able to use it.

Laravel Framework

The real potential of this framework, lead to the creation of many Laravel development services who were able to create unassailable and advanced web applications. The benefits that Laravel framework brought to the table were enormous. Let's discuss the important ones.

MVC Architecture for Code Organization

Laravel framework uses an MVC architectural pattern (model-view-controller) that separates and handle specific development aspects of any application built. This methodology increases performance and also enables the Laravel developer to write clean and legible codes, which helps in better documentation.

Lightweight templates

With an inclusion of dynamic content seeding, the splendid layouts created by Laravel' s lightweight templates can build simple yet efficient web applications. It also includes a huge collection of widgets with solid-structured CSS and JS codes.

Built-In Tools

Like many other frameworks out there, Laravel comes with multiple built-in tools that enhances and streamlines all the common tasks. Important functions like authentication, routing, and caching and may more are built into the framework.

Extendible & Modular Framework

The whole Laravel framework is built over 20 different libraries that are further classified into separate modules. The Packalyst directory enables you to add more than 5500 packages for an enhanced Laravel development process. This modular package system makes sure that you built highly responsive web application in the most time-efficient way possible.

Lean Development Services

This is the most exciting feature of the Laravel framework. Lumen a micro-framework, that works on the same principles of Laravel but with a focus on lean development.  It enables to create micro projects quickly and with ease. With integrated features at a minimal configuration, Lumen helps you to migrate to Laravel' s full framework  by just copying the code.

incorporated authorization libraries

The incorporated authorization libraries help Laravel facilitates various development settings and self-adjusts based on the platform the application is running. It also comes with a unique “auto complete” feature, that no other leading frameworks have.

Unit testing

The unit testing feature ensures that no new changes will create an issue by running numerous tests. Even though a considerable amount of time is needed in the development of the unit testing, it empowers the application to work without problems.

Conclusion

The proven dominance among all frameworks has made sure that the future of the Laravel framework is bright and prosperous. More and more developers are switching over to Laravel and are happy doing that. At the end it all comes down to the fact that a tested framework helps in building an advanced application and Laravel is the ideal option out there that lives up to all the expectations.

As PHP developers, we are all aware of the uses of frameworks during web development. The frameworks, which are many in number, are very helpful in multiple ways. However, mastering a PHP framework takes quite some time, something that is a must to invest.

A Planned study, with a sound knowledge of PHP and basic knowledge of the benefits of frameworks, will be helpful. Importantly, excellent tutorials and other resources at hand mean it can be easy to master PHP frameworks. Laravel, an open-source web application framework, following the MVC architectural pattern, being the most sought after framework by PHP developers, has to be mastered for many more reasons.

This framework, which has caught the attention of PHP developers for its expressive and elegant syntax, makes the process of web development exciting and thrilling. Authentication and routing, sessions and caching are some of the commonly done tasks that are made easy. Altogether, Laravel is quite advantageous. To help becoming the best Laravel developers, here is the list of tutorials and resources that can be worth referring.

Laravel documentation

The official documentation of Laravel is rich in information. Unarguably, this is where developers can learn the most about Laravel. Simply put, it is a one-stop solution.

Laravel.IO – Community News resource

This, Laravel.IO, offers simplicity when learning Laravel. Opting for Laravel.IO means you can quickly and effectively learn Laravel framework. Thankfully, there are also frequent podcasts which discuss on the happenings in the Laravel community.

Nettus+ Tutorials

If there one tutorial that can give you a holistic learning experience of Laravel, then, undoubtedly, Nettus+ will be the one that grabs this distinction. It offers in-depth, step by step Laravel tutorials.

StackOverflow

When you get an hand-on experience with Laravel, you are also haunted by many doubts which crop up in your mind. You need a platform for you to get your answers. StackOverflow is one such platform. You can view the thousands of archive questions relating to Laravel. 

Laravel group and community on LinkedIn and Google+

The Laravel group on LinkedIn will be one of the best sources for getting a wide exposure on the framework. This open group, having more than 2000 members, has about 150 discussions happening each month. That said, taking part will only further your knowledge in Laravel.

Apart from LinkedIn, Google plus too has a Laravel community, boasting about 2,000 members currently. Need any help or have any queries related to Laravel? Then, the community will prove to be the best platform for you. Take part in the discussions and can request members to share new resources.

Laravel on Twitter and Facebook

Being a programmer and tech-savvy individual, the chances of you not being on social networking platforms like Twitter and Facebook are slim.

If on Twitter, follow the major accounts. This helps you to get a different perspective on the framework. Ensure you follow the official account, the account of CEO of Laravel, News Resource and Community News Resource.

Again, almost concluding that you are a Facebook lover, would advice you to like the Laravel Community Page. It may certainly help.

Books, your best friends

Not impressed by any of the above-mentioned resources? Then, there is a way out. Many books are available, helping you to learn Laravel. However, do not go on a buying spree! Choose one book or, maybe, 2 books and not more than that. Because, having too many books may make you feel overwhelming.

Are you having a cheaply designed API which is not unified properly, and look terribly complex? The use of a Facade pattern may assist you to solve the issue. Laravel, now stands as a popular PHP framework utilized by web developers all round the world. A Laravel development company can make use of excellent facade patterns provided by the framework, and create APIs that look well-arranged and flawless. The Facade pattern used in Laravel can be linked with other frameworks.

What is a Laravel facade?

It is a basic class in Laravel platform having an interface similar to static services within the container. A facade works like a proxy for collecting the critical applications of the services that a container offers. The title can invite many doubts in the minds of developers, but it will be so simple to understand a Laravel facade, if you take it as a basic class.

Implementation of facades in Laravel 

Like most of the other PHP frameworks, Laravel maintains a unique name for each of the services it has in the container. APP::make() is the function which we use in applications to get a service straightly from the container. Together with the make(), we just need to include the specific method name, as well. While using Laravel, for getting things done in a perfect way, we need to specify the code,  //someService::methodName();//.

Every service in Laravel enjoys the prerogative of a facade class, which forms a part of the support package. A laravel developer has to use the getFacadeAccessor() for  restoring the specific service name in the container. Let us take the case of above mentioned code to mention the functioning of a Laravel interface. The term, someService used in the codes indicates the facade class. methodName() is actually highlighted by a class called someService. Thus,the code works without any interruption by maintaining certain amount of clarity.

Base Facade

Actually Laravel implements facade with the aid of base facade. There is a private property titled as $app, and it holds a reference of the service container. If a developer uses setFacadeApplication(), he can also utilise the facility of a Laravel facade with other frameworks. For invoking static methods that are not in reality, the base facade in Laravel has an excellent method, namely ‘callStatic’. This method will automatically trace out the corresponding services in the container for the implementation of the base facade class in Laravel. callStaticmethod() is a vital snippet to be implemented for the smooth functioning of the facade in Laravel. Every facade class enhances the base class. For the returning of service titles from the container, developers need to invoke the getFacadeAccessor() method.

Aliases & How facades are ‘aliased’ in Laravel?

For making use of facades, developers should import them, for they are basic classes in PHP. PHP is a platform which has tremendous assistance for the ‘namespaces’ as well as ‘autoloading’ . Only thing we need to make sure is that we have invoked them with the help of correct titles. For implementing aliases we just need to add App\Facades\SomeServiceFacade:SomeMethod(). If we use this in the code script, it will help Laravel to deal with aliasing automatically with the support of an alias loader.

Laravel has a Config.directory, which is a storehouse of alias names in the form of alias array. Notice this array closely, we can find every single alias name mapped to a completely equivalent class names. It gives developers freedom to use titles as they wish for defining a facade class. Thanks for the Laravel AliasLoader which is created in the Foundation package. It aids Laravel for the automated aliasing of facades by invoking related functions, and fully qualified names from the container.

Conclusion  

As mentioned in the beginning of this article, implementation of facades makes your API look so clean as well as to perform well. Thus it proves to be essential for every Laravel development company for the creation of agile web applications.

Laravel is one of the notable PHP frameworks used to create websites with a lot of stunning features. Laravel is created with immense number of methods and is supported by massive communities. It is easy for Laravel developers to clear their doubts with the help of community support. Still this framework has one such drawback which holds the developers from using it. No doubt it has excellent methods as well as documentation, but the main drawback Laravel faces is its slow performance. Codes of Laravel are so massive, and at the time of working it takes too much time to load and the results come so late.

Developers have been working on the same issue at the date of its introduction, and some of the expert developers have their own ways of coding that make Laravel codes work so fast. Here in this article we can check some of the Laravel code snippets that will help developers to make applications that work with good speed. Some developers are complaining that their Laravel applications are taking more time to load. Clean coding followed by the use of intelligent methods will assist developers in terms of improving the speed of applications they create using Laravel. 

Use “php. artisan config:cache as codes while caching a laravel configuration. It will integrate methods directly mentioned in the artisan and will help you to produce faster results. You can add php.artisan.config:clear to delete this function entirely from your application. For improving the performance of an application using Laravel, you can enable routes caching by using the following set of codes, “ php.artisan route:cache”. If you find the method is facing certain difficulty for returning no “Callbacks”, you can just add ‘Clear’ in the space of ‘cache’ mentioned in the code mentioned above. It will enable you to clear the function entirely. 

Just enable a classmap optimization in the applications you create by adding php.artisan optimize--force. The above mentioned code can be applied while creating applications using Laravel 4 as well. A developer must add “Composer dump autoload-o” for doing autoloading optimized Composers. It can turn all the PSR-0 or PSR-4 into classmap, thus can increase the speed of application development.

For saving files so quickly make use of the Memcached driver. The files that play very rapidly will help  your applications to work faster. So the use of Memcached driver will help you. For making it into practice use the codes “app/config/session.php/” .

The choice of a valuable session driver is very important while creating applications. Do the perfect optimization of entire Laravel codes. If your are creating an application within a limited time, you may not get the time to optimize codes fully, then you can depend on the methods of caching to some extent. But it always remains a fact that the problem never gets fully solved, if 100% optimization is not done. So to make the Laravel applications work faster, enable 100% optimization for all the codes used in the application.

Summing it up

For getting faster results, all Laravel developers should cache the query results properly, with the 100% optimized codes. If you implement these minor things while coding Laravel applications, you can surely produce superb results. At times, you may not find a 50% improvement in the performance of applications, still it is quite obvious that the performance of your Laravel applications will be noticeably improved. 

Web artisans in the modern world of technology are gifted with a wide range of PHP frameworks. Some among them are astonishing in terms of development possibilities they offer to the developers. Laravel is such a framework designed by following the same MVC model, which aids developers to build websites very easily. A Laravel developer gets plenty of features and its latest update 5.1 is really magnificent and flawless in concerns of advancement in web creation technologies. In short, it is a powerful PHP framework to assist developers in rapid development of websites coupled with excellent applications. Here let us check some vital points that enable Laravel to be a worthy framework to use, and the reasons for its popularity.

Why should we use Laravel?

1. By following the simple MVC framework, Laravel as a framework is not a pain to use, hence it has very simple tables and well defined classes.

2. This framework automatically links classes defined in the codes with databases, the ORM classes in Laravel model smoothly work with all database objects.

3. The updating of new entries, and database fields is so easy by using Laravel, hence developers can ease through the development.

4. Similar to what developers get with the frameworks like Ruby on Rails, Laravel has much refined set of migrations. Migration files help developers to update the database so easily. Altering of the database schema is no an issue while working with this platform. Simple ways of editions make your applications run so quickly.

5. A well- set packaging system named Bundles, Dependency manger, and powerful repository make this framework eloquent.

6. The query builder used in Laravel can be used to create a selectable caching. It improves the overall coding level of the framework. The classes and methods in this framework are so detailed.

7. The reverse routing enables Laravel to build apt URIs automatically.

8. Another great feature of this framework is a Blade templating engine. It has a good list of control structures, loops, and extended custom directives to assist developers for creating fast applications.

9. The artisan command line utility included in this framework makes unit testing work in a lighting pace.

10. The paginations can be done with the help of automated methods.

One of the must explain features of this framework is an improved Artisan CLI itself. When Laravel was introduced first, it CLI was a small unit, but it was expanded consistently with the implementation of new controllers. Dealing with migrations, and seeding, together with the creation of boilerplate codes so on can be done in a lighting pace with the advancement of this dedicated Artisan CLI.

Conclusion

The popularity of Laravel can be analysed based on many facets, and one among them is the celebrated set of Laravel community support itself. Any clarifications on coding, documentation, or even database manipulations can be managed smoothly through the extended community support. The ecosystem in which Laravel runs is superb, and has the support of some other frameworks like Symfony, when it comes to components. It is a rugged framework now capable of creating independent libraries. In addition to all these Laravel has the aid of tested third party libraries, as well. Range of modularity, the Laravel as a framework encompasses is simply amazing, and this itself gives a Laravel developer clear advantage in the creation of web applications. 

PHP frameworks are many in fact. It is common that PHP developers make comparisons between various frameworks on the basis of what they offer, their advantages and disadvantages. Many forums are replete with discussions pitting one framework with the other, like as Yii vs CodeIgniter and then Laravel Vs Yii then  mainly Laravel Vs CodeIgniter.

So how do these two frameworks fare? Which is popular than the other? Which framework offers better features? Such questions line up! Here, let us make a brief analysis and know the differences between Laravel and CodeIgniter.

Laravel: Its pros and cons

It is common knowledge that, for web application development, Laravel offers expressive, elegant syntax. Such has been its design. The laravel developer will enjoy the development process. Routing, authentication, sessions are some tasks, which are commonly performed, and are made easier, thanks to Laravel.

Importantly, this framework is designed for the PHP's latest version. Therefore, unit testing support and authentication, which are the base development components, are inbuilt. It is commendable that Laravel framework folds with the blade template engine in a smooth manner.

One area where Laravel outdoes CodeIgniter is it has got exceptions. These, with exceedingly detailed stacktrace aren't available for developers who use CodeIgniter..

Use of libraries and models is easier as Laravel has object-oriented libraries. These libraries are supported with autocomplete feature.

Laravel has its own command-line interface. Called as Artisan, it enables developers to perform abundant tasks. So what tasks? Tasks like migrating databases and seeding databases. Also performed is clearing the cache, etc.

Object-Relational Mapping or ORM in Laravel is simple, eloquent and fast. That said, developers will find it very easy to organize the application's database.

Laravel is best suited for building RESTful APIs. Apart from that, Laravel handles event queuing.

However, Routing in Laravel may be odd at times. Owing to the recent entry of Laravel, it may be a bit tougher if not altogether, to get to find answers. Notwithstanding this fact, the numerous forums and IRC are very much active in helping people find answers.

CodeIgniter: Its pros and cons

It is simple, and also quick to set up CodeIgniter. Just download the preferred version from CodeIgniter homepage. Otherwise, from GitHub. Thereafter, unzip the contents.

Nothing can beat CodeIgniter in terms of documentation, which is clear and very well structured. It is such that all the particular concepts of CodeIgniter which are commonly used are explained clearly, that too, with examples.

CodeIgniter is stable. The popular framework has the advantage of having been tested by the developers in large number. Having said that, the chances of bugs or any other problems going unnoticed is minimal.

The templating engine, which is inbuilt in CodeIgniter, is easy to use and is based on mustache-like templating language. Learning this language is simple even for new developers.

No matter whether you know anything about MVC architecture or not; it is very easy to use CodeIgniter.

CodeIgniter offers output caching. Web pages can be cached so that the loading time can be reduced. Besides, efficiency and performance can be enhanced.

Developers using CodeIgniter can easily seek support. Because this framework has a very big community which uses the framework for smaller projects and also very large projects.

It may be an overstatement to call CodeIgniter obsolete. However, it is to be noted that the framework has been released at the time of PHP 4. Many new features were added later to PHP. Hence, the need for extending code files arises to make this framework work.

Another drawback of CodeIgniter is that it does not offer default modular separation.

Conclusion

Both frameworks, which are unique and similar in many ways have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. However, it is the requirements of the developers that decide which is to be preferred. All that said, if you are a developer working on modern apps, it is suggested you go for Laravel. Every Laravel developer company attributes their ease of web development to this framework.

Laravel figures in the list of most utilized open source PHP web frameworks in the world now. Laravel has got a large community of developers under its spell. All prominent web developing companies ensure the services of professional Laravel developers in their core team of application development. Developing a RESTful API using Laravel is not a very tedious task, but the process demands a certain amount of care which should be taken by developers at the time of development to evade crucial flaws at the runtime. This article furnishes a detailed check-list to avoid errors while creating a RESTful API with Laravel.

Basic steps to follow before we start-off

Imagine you are working on a local windows environment, then as a basic step you need to ensure that XAMPP and composer are installed properly, and it assists in the running of Apache and MySQL promptly. Along with XAMPP, tools such as Sublime-Text and handy plugins should be installed for increasing the pace of your development. Create your own repositories with the aid of reliable sources such as Github. If you are using a Linux platform, these basic steps differ.

Make the components and framework of your API error-free

First thing you should ensure while creating API is that all models are defined correctly without any missing relations that link them one another. Vital factor which helps your components and framework work well is the functioning of corresponding tables in the database, so to avoid errors exploit relative functions in PHP artisan. Check laravel seeders are inserting data automatically in the database without any errors. REST routes created with artisan commands play a significant role in the working of API, hence make sure it lacks any error possibilities. Keep only much needed methods that control your entire API structure.

Be sure with all CRUD methods

CRUD methods include functions you need to implement all API operations. All indexes, Marker controllers, and nested functions need to be checked as a third step. It helps your resource controllers produce the desired results you want to display. All the issues generate with CSRF middleware must be fixed, either by disabling it for the time being, or fully. Markers should be included in the database with proper definitions, and request controllers must validate data correctly. Examine if PUT and PATCH methods are getting requests from the update methods you have created. Assure that a destroy method to delete unwanted data from the database has been created having no flaw in it.

Check the security aspects

Your RESTful Laravel API should be top class in terms of security, for that verify all methods you have developed like storing, and deleting by implementing auth as well as middleware. Analyse it code by code to pick out the errors. Some professional Laravel developers working in reputed firms create CSRF to hack their own API to avoid every security vulnerability. Together with it some developers even create separate handlers for processing instant requests as well as superfluous errors. For making your RESTful Laravel API work extremely well very aspects need to be cross checked in a proficient line.