Did you know that the average person will install about 40 apps on their phone? Increasing numbers of people are taking care of both works and play using online platforms, and businesses are making sure that they’re available online to satisfy demand. Below in this article, we will cover the Release of Laravel 9.
In order for those businesses to keep growing, though, they need apps and web platforms to be customizable and robust; that’s why so many of them use Laravel. As one of the most popular PHP frameworks, it’s a favorite among web design companies like WebCitz, as well as web developers all over the world. There’s no doubt that Laravel has a solid reputation; from Amazon SES sites to Invoice Ninja, many business sites utilize the Laravel PHP framework.
Laravel 9’s release has been widely anticipated – especially after getting delayed from September to February 8 of this year. Companies that work with PHP had to wait about a year for the current version to be released, but it seems to have been worth the wait. It has some new features, and now it’s possible to build apps even faster than before.
What Laravel can do
As a server-side, open-source framework, Laravel developers are able to build highly scalable and engaging websites and apps. It’s even suitable for more complicated web applications when PHP is used as the programming language, with Laravel as the server-side framework. Since the development process can be simplified with Laravel, the process isn’t just easier for the developers; it’s also better for the clients, as the work can be completed more quickly.
Why do so many developers use Laravel, though? For many, it’s because of its flexibility. Laravel is a framework that developers use to build native, responsive web apps using less code (and less effort). Now that Laravel’s latest version has been released, developers are able to work even more effectively than before.
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Why Laravel was delayed
For the longest time, Laravel 9 was supposed to be released in September of 2021 – but it ended up being released five months later. Why did this happen? We aren’t quite sure about that, but it could be that they were waiting on the release of Symfony 6.0. However, Symfony’s latest version wasn’t available until October. After that, it’s possible that the team had to take a couple more months to ensure that everything was perfectly integrated. Whatever the case, it seems that Laravel 9 is all the better for the delay.
New features for Laravel 9
There are four primary new features offered in the latest version of Laravel:
- PHP 8 string functions – The newest version of Laravel utilizes the Laravel 8 string functions, as you can see below.
- Anonymous stub migration – While running the migration command in Laravel 9, anonymous stub migration is the default. This feature deals with the problem of class name collision when there are multiple migrations that use identical names.
- New query builder interface – Developers will find it much easier to perform static analysis, refactoring, and type hinting in Laravel 9’s new query builder interface.
- Minimum PHP requirement – Developers will have to use the most recent PHPunit 8 or PHP 8 in order to run tests on the web app. Symfony 6.0 will also require PHP 8.
It’s likely that these new functions will involve future bug fixes, but it’s all part of the process of ensuring a smooth implementation.
Laravel’s key features
In order for Laravel to be effective, it needs to offer a well-rounded set of tools – and that’s exactly what it does. Here are some of its main features:
- Effective template engine – Websites with dynamic layouts have increased chances of building a wide customer base, which is why Laravel has a robust template engine that can create strong structures for apps and websites alike.
- Reverse routing – This has to do with generating a URL; Laravel does this based on route declaration. Reverse routing makes it easier to write code, which gives developers more flexibility.
- Unit testing – Having a website or app custom-built doesn’t do you much good if you can’t rely on it to work consistently. That’s why Laravel offers unit testing so that developers can test their code even at a granular level. With such a thorough testing process, developers and clients can be confident in the finished product.
- Security – Laravel’s Bcrypt Hashing Algorithm is a built-in security feature for encrypting passwords. Since security is always a top priority when developing a web app, this is an important feature to have.
- MVC architecture – As one of the top PHP frameworks, Laravel supports MVC architecture. Developers choose Laravel because they’re able to complete the development process more quickly; plus, the model-view-controller architecture makes it easier to develop logic.
- Artisan CLI – Due to the Artisan Command Line Interface, the management of the system database is much less cumbersome. Developers can leave repetitive tasks to the Artisan CLI, and concentrate on their own innovative code.
- Eloquent ORM – Developers don’t have to write SQL code in order to deal with database query tables, thank to the PHP syntax. Query handling is simplified with an effective ORM, which allows developers to integrate more efficiently with database tables.
Installing Laravel 9
Some people will install Laravel 9 themselves; if that’s the case for you, here are a couple of points to keep in mind.
Confirm that you’re using PHP 8; that’s what Laravel 9 utilizes. Below you’ll find the command that installs Laravel 9:
This creates a new project named “Laravel 9”; you’ll be able to view the name “laravel-9-dev”.
Another installation method is to utilize Laravel Global CLI. Enter the command (laravel new laravel-9-dev –dev). Once that’s done, the installation is complete. Just to be sure, though, check the version you’re using by running the artisan command in the new directory.
The takeaway
Laravel 9 has been a long time in coming, but the patience of web developers has hopefully been rewarded with more effective tools and a bug-free experience. Whether someone’s an experienced web developer or is just getting started, Laravel 9 offers an elegant solution for creative web design.
