In most of programming languages we can observe a battle of frameworks.
In Javascript nowadays we have a complete mess. Maybe one or two years ago AngularJS was cool but now I am listening about React JS or Angular 2? Who can follow that? Is it worth to be on time which framework is currently the best? I think definitely not. What is most important is fact, that even the most clean framework we will using, the developer responsibility to make a clean code must go in a pair. Frameworks offer similar features. If some of them are missing, on the web, after e.g month there will be a guy who will implement it on some GitHub repo. Later on, feature will be integrated in framework core.. and so on so on.. all frameworks offers generally the same features with different names / similar syntax. So maybe just, choose the one which is updated rapidly, offers those new features with minimal latency and propose the new ones without waiting for others?
I think Taylor Otwell, an author of PHP Laravel Framework is a person who doesn’t really care about inventing new things criticized by an audience who want to do things almost in the same way… explaining that because it is a good pattern because I saw that in X, Y, Z.
As a post title, I’d like to explain why I am using Laravel. In a totally subjective way… yes, because such comparisons are always using tendency to praise own choices ;>
Why Laravel? Because…
- Because it is not reinventing a wheel – is built on Symfony Components, nowaday standard libraries for PHP. I can say that Laravel extends Symfony.
- I can develop my ideas in the least lines of code in PHP. You can say that facades are bad (especially if we start to create own), but they gives me that power… Laravel keywords “Love beautiful code? We do too.” – from me, +1.
- Supports most recent versions of PHP. For how long framework should stay in a place because of backward compatibility? I think maintaining a code which is evolving with language is a only a type of discipline and openness. Yes changing PHP version could cost a lot when we have to cooperate with IT guys but the problem occurs only for really big projects… so no matter for startups and medium-sized projects (most of cases).
- Introduces many modern and brand new programming paradigms – you can use facades, dependency injection, event system, queues of commands, file system abstraction. Use them all or only part of them. Functional programming and labdas are everywhere. You will be positively surprised how things could be simple.
- Great, huge, active community – in Poland we have very hardened community which repeats to themselves that there is no other framework than Symfony and they have never tried a Laravel… My suggestion is to open eyes and look e.g at this report. Because something is a very popular so it is a chance that it may be good? I guess that in most in most of cases this words are completely true. Good developer should not force his habits forever.
- Is integrated with cloud services. Amazon, S3, configurations are prepared OOTB.
- Maintains a virtual development environment. My world evolved after I discovered Vagrant. My hard-drive could explode any time. After that within approx 15 min. on any computer, I can start developing after installing Vagrant, cloning repo with my project and launching Homestead with configured everything 😉
Are you still don’t know which PHP framework is best? I don’t know too. No matter, follow intuition. Just use your favorite and code your dream apps… 😉