Why you should start learning Laravel today!

The world of web development today is evolving faster than ever, with new frameworks, tools, and technologies constantly reshaping how applications are built. In this landscape, choosing the right tools and frameworks is more critical than ever for creating impactful digital experiences.

1. PHP is not modern; I'm better off learning other languages

Laravel consistently proves that PHP is not "old news," especially with the enhancements introduced in PHP 7 and 8. Laravel’s clean syntax, robust toolset, and scalability mean it rivals—and often surpasses—many newer frameworks in both performance and functionality.

Despite these perceptions, PHP remains highly relevant, powering nearly 80% of websites in some capacity. Modern frameworks like Laravel make PHP a competitive, robust choice for web development. (https://www.glorywebs.com/blog/laravel-usage-statistics/)

Companies across various sectors have chosen Laravel for its balance of speed, security, and efficiency.

• Pfizer, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, uses Laravel for customer service and claims management.

• BBC — a world-leading public service broadcaster—uses Laravel to power parts of its extensive web platform, allowing developers to contribute to media and content applications that reach millions globally.

• A significant player in the insurance technology (insurtech) space, Liberty Mutual uses Laravel to manage complex web applications for customer interactions and claims processing.

• Tesla has leveraged Laravel for managing specific web-based components. Laravel’s scalability and ease of development align well with Tesla’s fast-paced and evolving digital needs.

2. I can build pages with full-stack Javascript frameworks

Laravel has several powerful packages and a very active community that covers a wide range of functionalities. For building dynamic UIs without leaving PHP, the Livewire framework offers an effective solution, letting you create dynamic front-end experiences directly within Laravel.

Here are some of Laravel’s most popular packages with robust features:

• Laravel Passport: simplifies the often-complex OAuth2 implementation
• Spatie Laravel Permission: handling complex access control scenarios
• Laravel Horizon: real-time monitoring and visual insights with a beautiful dashboard
• Laravel Cashier: integration with Stripe and Paddle to manage subscription implementation easy
• Laravel Socialite: streamlines OAuth integration with social platforms, saving you from having to build custom authentication
• Laravel Excel: facilitates the import and export of Excel and CSV files, allowing for data manipulation and reporting
• Laravel Nova: premium package providing a polished, customizable admin panel for managing Laravel applications

There are several other professional packages worth mentioning, these are the most popular ones.

3. You can't build SPA's with PHP

JavaScript is commonly used for SPAs, but Laravel addresses this misconception as well. With Inertia, built specifically for Laravel, you don’t need client-side routing or an API. Inertia integrates seamlessly with front-end frameworks like Vue, React, and even Laravel's own Livewire, making it easy to create SPA-like experiences. :)

Inertia and Livewire are other popular tools for Laravel. Additionally for authentication Sanctum is provided too, unlike the Passport package this one is used for SPAs, implementing token-based authentication.

For SEO, Laravel offers several solutions, such as setting meta tags for Blade components dynamically and using prerendering tools. Nuxt.js can also be integrated with Laravel for static site generation, improving visibility on search engines.

4. PHP syntax is hard to maintain, it's messy

Laravel mitigates this issue too, it offers modular blocks for your code, queuing tasks, built-in caching, database optimization which makes it more efficient then most frameworks, it can handle large traffic better.

The Eloquent ORM offers a uique solution for this issue. Instead of writing raw SQL syntax then integrating it with PHP code, you can use chainable built-in methods.

The Blade templating engine makes page creation a breeze, with directive such as

@foreach ($users as $user)
    <p>{{ $user->name }}</p>
@endforeach

you don't have to write traditional PHP code, instead the modified directives. But you can write plain PHP code into the blade view too if you want. It also supports component-based structure and template inheritance too.

With the MVC architecture Laravel offers, you don't have to understand complex folder structures and logic to write. It's the built-in architecture of Laravel. Each component has a clear responsibility and mainting the code in these components is also simple to understand for beginners too.

Middleware, service providers help to avoid redundant code and repeating the same code logic througout your application. The logic for thos is entirely built-in, you just have to customize them to your requirements. There are several helper functions and facades that make complex logic more comprehensible.

5. PHP lacks proper support for modern development practices like DevOps and CI/CD

The creators of Laravel made the Laravel Forge, which is the perfect tool for deploying your application. It has several features like SSL management, extensive and simple documentation (like Laravel), so deployment and more can be achieved without advanced Devops konwledge. Voyager is integrated inside Forge too, Voyager's structure and reliance on database migrations, role-based access control, and configuration management make it easier to integrate into automated, consistent workflows.

Laravel has built-in testing capabilities and starter kits like breeze generate testcases too. Environment configuration is simplified in one file called .env allowing teams to manage application secrets, database credentials, API keys, and other sensitive configurations separately from the codebase. This approach aligns with the 12-Factor App methodology, which is key to modern DevOps.

Additionally, Laravel supports robust security practices, including CSRF protection, password hashing. It integrates caching mechanisms like Redis and Memcached, both of which are commonly used in high-scale environments to enhance performance.

Laravel integrates well with logging and monitoring tools like New Relic, Sentry, and Loggly, which are crucial for DevOps monitoring practices.

Laravel proves itself as a future-ready framework that adapts to modern needs in an ever-evolving development landscape.

Whether you’re working on a personal project or developing a big application for a company like Tesla or BBC, Laravel’s structure and resources take the guesswork out of coding.