Let us discuss the features that make Laravel one of the best PHP frameworks to work with-
Application Structure
The Application Structure of Laravel is straightforward and simple to use. It is designed to provide a proper starting point for both small and large-scale applications. Laravel provides freedom of location for classes as long as the user is capable of auto-loading the classes. The default Laravel application consists of several directories- the app directory, bootstrap directory, config directory, and so on, that store specific aspects of a program. This structure allows freedom of development while keeping the program organized.
Multiple File Storage System
The Laravel framework is integrated with the Flysystem package. The Laravel Flysystem integration provides drivers to work with storage centers like the local drives, Amazon S3, and other cloud-based databases. The Flysystem package works great with caching, FTP, and SMTP protocols, and apart from this, retrieving and downloading files is convenient in Laravel. These features make working with data and components in the program much easier as the storage is controlled using a single API.
MVC Architecture Support
MVC stands for Model-View-Controller; it is a standard architecture for programming software applications where they are partitioned into three categories- Model, View, and Controller. Models relate to the data-based logic that users work with, Views correspond to the UI based aspects of the application, and Controller is the interface between View and Model- taking in requests, processing them according to the model, and representing the results in the view.
Laravel supports MVC, and this architecture allows programmers to develop coherent and efficient programs in PHP. In large projects, it helps simplify the structuring of codes thereby making the programming process convenient.
Object-Oriented Libraries
Object-Oriented Programming is a comprehensive programming method that involves the declaration of classes and then using the declared data of the classes through objects in the program. This makes the programming process very convenient by preventing repetitive declaration, thereby reducing the amount of coding.
The Laravel framework for PHP offers several libraries that are Object Oriented. Though PHP is a language that uses OOP extensively, pre-installed object-oriented libraries are rarely offered by any framework based on PHP. Companies providing Laravel Development services keep the track of all these libraries and provide the best services to their clients using them.
Restriction
A Software program is utilized by several users within an organization. Different user levels determine the part of the application that is concerned with the levels. In such a case, to make the process coherent and to prevent risks of mismanagement, it becomes essential for such an application to restrict user access to a certain level.
Laravel offers in-build authorization services which can be used to provide specific authorization to the users based on their relevance concerning the given resource. A user may be authorized to read and write certain data sets of the database, while another user may be authorized only to read the data. Developers can customize restrictions using Laravel’s Gates and Policies.
Pagination
Web Applications or websites consist of content that is divided into several categories. Many a time the content needs to be segregated to aid their readability. For this purpose, pagination of the content is essential in web development. Pagination is the method that divides the entire content into different pages.
Pagination is a tedious task and may take several lines of code to program the application to display a certain number of items on the page. Laravel, however, makes it easy for developers with its paginate method. Pagination can also be done manually if needs arise, however it takes minimalistic coding for such configuration.
Template Engine
Developing an application requires coding several components- the model component, the controller component, and the view component. The view component as we discussed is important and developing an enticing and coherent interface can be a tedious task.
To make the development process easier, Laravel uses the Blade Template Engine to develop HTML-based layouts. These layouts are consistent in design and structure and can be viewed under different views. Blade template doesn’t restrict developers from using PHP codes and reduces load time of layouts as the codes are stored in a cache until modified.
Programming Task Management and Arrangement
At times, needs arise to schedule the execution of certain commands on the program, and for this purpose, developers have been using Cron to schedule their programming tasks. The needful schedule is planned on the Crontab (Cron Table) which Cron reads and executes as per the designated schedule.
However, controlling the Cron entries is a tedious task and needs to be done through SSH. Laravel offers ease of scheduling through its feature- Command Schedule. Using the command schedule, scheduling can be easily done through Laravel itself using a single Cron entry on the server.
Testing
Testing a program during the development process and after development is important to ensure that the program is ready for use according to the optimal standards. Laravel has been built considering the importance of testing. Laravel offers Unit and Feature testing for the programs which are accessible from the Features and Unit directories under the tests directory. Unit testing can be used to test a certain method while Feature testing tests several methods and objects in collaboration with each other.
Security
Security is an essential requirement for web applications. Web Applications are used by numerous users who use them for crucial purposes at times. Defending the personal and organizational information of the users as well as that of the vendors against cyber-attacks is therefore crucial.
Laravel offers secure access through its authentication features and uses Hash class features to store passwords that make it highly secure. Additionally, Laravel uses the AES standard of encryption to encrypt data using the mcrypt PHP extension. These features along with the HTML standard authentication make programs developed through Laravel highly secure.
Conclusion
PHP is a popular language used for web development with several supportive libraries and tools. While there are several frameworks based on PHP that are widely used, Laravel is one of the most popular frameworks in this category. As the coming days are witnessing growth in internet and web applications utility, there is a huge scope in the field of web development. Being able to work with Laravel, therefore, can open gates of endless opportunities to enthusiastic aspirants.
