Laravel is a PHP framework developed by Taylor Otwell and maintained by its community. It is a high-performance server-side web application framework designed primarily for the rapid development and deployment of web applications using object-oriented techniques. The best thing is that it’s mostly free and follows the architectural pattern of Symfony.
Its main features include a Composer package manager, an asset management system (Asset class), Blade templates, HTTP response validation, exception handling, caching, logging, automatic routing, and form requests. It is being used by thousands of developers around the globe. The main goal of this framework is to simplify the development process and make web application development easier.
The best way to learn Laravel is to sign up for a class or watch some tutorials. For example, Laracasts is a video tutorial site where Taylor teaches Laravel and other frameworks through screencasts. The site also offers a free subscription service, where new members can access over 100 courses and 500+ screencasts on basic and advanced topics related to this framework.
You can get tutorials from a variety of sources. It doesn’t matter whether you want to learn PHP or Laravel; you’ll still find something useful.
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And when you learn how to code with Laravel, you will be able to create robust internet applications without spending too much time and resources to launch them. That will give you plenty of career options, or even working as an independent developer, offering your services through https://adevait.com.
Here are some of the most valuable tips we’ve used during the process of learning Laravel:
1. You should start learning Laravel from scratch
If you have any knowledge about PHP, then you can learn Laravel easily. But if you don’t know anything about PHP, then you need to start from scratch. In this case, the scratch is PHP. Surely it would take some time until you get to the point, but there is no way to learn Laravel without at least basic knowledge of PHP.
You may ask if you really need this, but it’s like trying to speak advanced Portuguese without knowing how to say, “Hi, how are you?”
Even the simplest tasks require some intermediate knowledge in PHP because you can’t perform, for example, laravel custom pagination if you don’t know the language’s basic syntax and framework.
2. Use Laracasts and the Official Documentation
Laracasts is a learning platform for developers. You can find thousands of tutorials that may improve your knowledge once you are done with the basics. You can choose what you want to learn, and you get access to online podcasts. Some of the users say it’s an online free university.
They give you an option to start from scratch and combine the framework with other things you find helpful for your growth as a software developer. You may find an excellent laravel pagination example, or a piece of code, just to see how things work. So, don’t mind, and use Laracast to learn more about all the trending programming languages and frameworks.
Additionally, we suggest reading the official documentation. It contains everything you need to know about Laravel. It’s updated regularly, so you won’t miss anything.
3. Use Laravel’s Built-in Tools
Laravel has many useful tools that help you create applications faster and more efficiently. These tools are included in each version of Laravel and are continuously being updated. You should use them whenever possible.
These tools will make your life easier, whether you need to build a simple project or some advanced software solution.
4. Use Composer and Other Useful Packages and Management Tools
Composer is a package manager for PHP. Using it will make managing packages much more effortless. Composer makes it easy to install any package you want.
Also, you can use Git, which is a free distributed revision control system (RCS) that works well with PHP. It helps you manage projects and keep track of changes.
Migrations are helpful if you need to change data structures. They allow you to add, delete, and modify tables without manually editing the database.
Eloquent is an object-relational mapping (ORM) class. It simplifies interacting with databases using objects instead of raw SQL queries.
Blade templates let you write HTML code directly inside PHP files. This lets you reuse code across different pages and frameworks.
All these things can be a nice addition to your learning process. We suggest using them once you start working on specific projects. On the other hand, many successful developers suggest learning these things first and then focusing on Laravel completely.
5. Start Writing Your First Project
Launch the Laravel framework and try to write your first piece of code. You can attend many courses and read tons of books, but at some point, you will have to try and write your first code.
Let it be simple and understandable, so you can maintain a clean code. You can compile it for errors and resolve them before launching the app. Once you are done, you need to test the code and see how it works.
You can take your time to edit it to make it work better. That’s how you learn Laravel.
6. Don’t use too Many Resources at Once
There are tons of books, courses, and documents, but you don’t really need to take them all. Instead, focus on a few of them until you master the entry or pre-intermediate level of Laravel coding.
Also, focus on learning resources. The “How to” guides can be helpful, but you don’t learn how to do something. Instead, you learn how to find the solution on Google, which is fine but not what you really need to be a good Laravel developer.
Final Thoughts
Laravel is one of the widely used PHP frameworks, and it’s absolutely worth learning it. It would be easier if you already have some basics or you’ve used other PHP frameworks before.
But even if you are a beginner, you have enough resources and support to start learning. After that, things can only get better for you and your career as a software developer.
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