7 reasons Laravel is the Best PHP Framework for website development.

Ross Edlin
11th Mar 2019

I still remember the day I first discovered the Laravel Framework for PHP, it was mindblowing how easy it was to do the simplest of tasks.

Thinking back to the time I never used a framework, that’s a painful thought.
I built an entire game server control panel using the old procedural code method (yea...).

But that was 2010, now I know better.

Taking the time to learn a proper framework is hugely beneficial, but the key is to learn a good one.
That’s why I promote Laravel as the Best PHP Framework for website development.

I use it for all my new projects and would never consider another framework.
The last company I worked for is converting all their old legacy code into modern PHP code using Laravel as the main framework.

Laravel is the best and are my 7 reasons why.

#1 - Well documented and very easy to learn

Laravel is incredibly well documented, everything you can think of from the simple basics of setting up the initial framework, getting that infamous hello world screen, to the more complicated tasks such as event management.

You name it, it’s probably been documented.

Documentation has other benefits besides speeding up development, it keeps things consistent, because Laravel is so well documented when you sit down with a framework such as Laravel, so much of the code is...

Oh so familiar.

Just another reason Laravel is the Best PHP Framework to learn!

#2 - It’s hugely popular, lots of developers know it

If you’re considering a framework to work with, sit back and think about the market, what people are using, what people want to use and what people know.

When I look on Job boards and pop in the search bar, “PHP”, Laravel is everywhere.

It’s used because of the reasons I state in this article and because it’s incredibly popular, this popularity is now another reason to choose it.
Because most developers will now of used it, so finding more PHP developers will become much easier.

It’s the same thing with WordPress, finding a good WordPress developer is not hard, because of the popularity of WordPress.
Laravel is exactly the same.

#3 - Modern and updated regularly

Laravel is a relatively new framework, it first appeared on the market in June 2011 and has gone through a number of updates.

It’s current version is v5.8 and generally has been updated every few months every since it was released.
It also promotes a Long Term Support (LTS) v5.5 which will get 2 years of bug fixes and 3 years of security patches before you need to update to the next LTS version.

Laravel is also incredible modern as a PHP Framework, it uses the latest and best technologies available on the market.

PHP v7
Bootstrap
Vue
NPM
Composer
Vagrant

The above is just a few examples but in reality, the number of technologies that Laravel makes use of is endless.

#4 - Docker and Vagrant compatible

Laravel is fully docker and vagrant compatible, Laravel even comes with its own vagrant build called “homestead”.

Why is this important??

Docker and Vagrant are virtual machines built with code, the exist temporarily when you need them and are destroyed when no longer needed.
Both are easily adjusted and can be designed to be exactly what you need for each development environment when you need it.

If you need to add on a specific PHP extension like the GD library so you manipulate images, you just alter the code for either docker or vagrant to include the library, commit the code into your git repository, and you’re done.

You’ve now added the GD library for every developer working on the project.

To learn more about docker, click here.

And to learn about vagrant, click here.

#5 - AWS compatible

One of the best capabilities about Laravel is that it’s fully Amazon Web Services (AWS) compatible.

Why is this important?

Scale.

Building your web applications on Laravel gives you the ability to create large scale applications, with infinite size.
The importance of being fully compatible will cloud services such as AWS, Google Cloud and Azure means that you can start really small and scale when needed.

Imagine building your Laravel website with a tiny monthly hosting cost of around $20 per month.
Then slowly as needed you can simply increase the server size to as big as you need by simply logging into your AWS account and sliding a slider to increase the server size (and cost).#6 - It’s flexible, simple website, big website, api, you name, you can build it with Laravel

#6 - It’s feature packed

When considering a PHP framework, you want the best right?
Laravel has that in spades, the number of features you have are endless.

When I look at Laravel code, it’s so familiar because developers rarely have to write awesome code, all they have to do is make use of the sheer amount of features Laravel offers.

You want event management, Laravel provides that.

Security? Laravel has a whole section on that one, click here to read about it.

Honestly, I couldn’t do it justice, you really should just read the documentation from Laravel themselves.

Here’s a link to the main documentation page, be prepared for a BIG read...

#7 - MIT License

You might not consider this when you first start out but this can cost you millions if you don’t consider it.
One of the previous companies I worked for worked built a product worth millions, but when they went to sell it, they realised that under the current licience, they couldn’t.

That’s why Laravel is the Best PHP Framework.

Why??

It’s using the MIT License which is a, do whatever you like license.

By using the MIT Licience you can code away knowing that whatever you create, you will never have to worry about being sued for what you create.
It gives you the freedom to create.

References

Don’t just take my word for it, Google other reviews of Laravel and see for yourself.
It wouldn’t be the most popular framework for PHP if everyone hated it...

Raygun (#1 spot on their list)

Introduced in 2011, Laravel has become the most popular free, open-source PHP framework in the world. Why? Because it can handle complex web applications securely, at a considerably faster pace than other frameworks. Laravel simplifies the development process by easing common tasks such as routing, sessions, caching, and authentication.
Raygun

Stackify (#1 spot on their list)

Laravel is a relatively new PHP framework but un-arguably the most popular PHP Framework out there to date. Learning Laravel is easy since each release is fully documented. They also provide many screencasts, tutorials, and blog updates.

Conclusion
Stackify