Laravel is an open-source and free PHP web framework used for developing robust, scalable and secure web applications for small business websites, start-ups, and enterprises. It is one of the most used PHP frameworks and has maintained its reputation for being one of the easiest frameworks to develop professional web apps with its efficient coding standards and MVC architectural pattern. With the rising web app development requirements and extensive functionalities, more clients and developers are choosing Laravel to power their web applications.
However, just like any other web framework, Laravel also has many benefits and limitations that one must be aware of before choosing it as their preferred web app framework. You need to weigh the pros and cons of Laravel with your project requirements and see if it’s the right fit or not. It can be confusing to make such a decision yourself, especially if you are from a non-technical background. In such situations, you should Hire Laravel Developers from a trusted IT company after talking to their professional consultants. However, if you need a basic understanding of the pros and cons of Laravel as a framework, we have listed it for your reference.
Why choose Laravel for your web app development project?
PHP is one of the oldest yet most stable and demanded programming languages in the developer’s community. There are many other frameworks based on PHP, such as Symfony, CodeIgniter, Phalcon, CakePHP and more, and they all have their benefits and limitations. However, Laravel is often the first framework that comes to mind when we think about PHP. And this is because of the development ease and flexibility of options it provides its developers.
Laravel Development Pros – Why use Laravel?
1. Improved Authentication and Authorization
Laravel makes setting up authentication and authorization systems a breeze for developers. It can set up ‘Login’, ‘Password Reset’ and ‘Registration’ using a single command. You can also set up and organize authorization logic and monitor access to routes.
2. Protection against Technical and Security Vulnerability
Some of the globally identified web development security vulnerabilities established by the OWASP foundation include Cross-Site Request Forgery, SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting and more. The time and cost to fix such vulnerabilities increase with each stage you pass in the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). It can be up to 30 times more expensive to deal with such vulnerabilities in the post-production phase than in the initial design, architecture and planning stages. Laravel is the most secure PHP framework available that doesn’t allow such vulnerabilities to enter your web app.
3. Faster Time to Market
Laravel takes a modular approach to web app development, which means Laravel comes packed with many prebuilt functions, structures and packages that follow the latest PHP principles and help build responsive web apps in a timely fashion. Using prebuilt assets helps speed up the Laravel development process, reducing the overall time to market and reducing mundane tasks of writing long lines of codes.
4. Laravel’s MVC Architecture
Laravel follows MVC architecture which comes with many in-built functionalities for Laravel developers. Laravel MVC architecture also provides clarity between presentation and logic. It also provided systematic documentation and improvised performance compared to most other PHP frameworks.
5. Better Traffic Handling
The more traffic a web app gets, the more difficult it gets to manage it and maintain a consistent well-performing state. With increased traffic, the requests it needs to handle per second increases. This increases the hosting costs or, at times, even can lead to the server crashing with data loss. Luckily, Laravel has a workaround for such a situation. It makes use of a message queue system for managing website traffic. It helps keep the server healthy and manages traffic effectively.
6. In-Built Automated & Unit Testing Capabilities
One of the major areas where most web frameworks lack is in-built support for testing. Testing web app frameworks is of utmost importance as it helps reduce bugs and errors and helps make sure the app is functional and secure at all times. Laravel comes with unparalleled testing support. Laravel provides automation and unit testing support, which allows developers to test user interactions and easily check the performance of your Laravel app’s modules.
7. Proper Documentation
One of the reasons Laravel is easy to use is the thorough documentation that helps developers troubleshoot whenever they get stuck. It helps them understand basic syntaxes, classes, features, and best coding practices. Each new update comes with proper documentation, allowing developers to prep for what’s next well in advance.
Laravel Development Cons – Why not use Laravel?
No framework is without flaws; the same is true for Laravel. While Laravel focuses on improving certain aspects of web development, some aspects aren’t at par with most of the other available frameworks in the market. If these factors are prime to your web app project, you probably should reconsider using Laravel for your web app project.
1. Lack of In-Built Support
Laravel is liked for being a lightweight and easy-to-use framework; however, when you install Laravel, you will realize it doesn’t have much to offer right out of the box. Though it has an extensive library of useful packages and tools that make it competitive with other frameworks, it is an additional hassle compared to other popular tools like Python-based Django and Ruby on Rails.
2. Upgradation Issues
Compared to other frameworks, all PHP frameworks are known to be prone to upgradation issues. Laravel is no exception to this issue. Many updates can prove troublesome and problematic in Laravel, and users must take proper precautions before upgrading their Laravel app.
3. Not suited for building Mobile Apps
Laravel doesn’t come with much support for creating mobile apps. Your apps will have to make full-page reloads, which can make your app bundle size larger and process in your mobile app slower, making your mobile app run and perform inefficiently.
4. Version Continuation Issues
The transition of migrating your Laravel web app from one version to another isn’t seamless. For instance, if you try shifting from Laravel 4 to 5 and edit the code, it causes the application to shut down.
5. Developer Availability
It’s not like Laravel developers are not easy to find, but finding skilled Laravel developers can be a challenge. Even if you manage to find them, the price of hiring those Laravel developers often exceeds company expectations/budget milenar .
What Projects Laravel is best suited for?
Now that we have a basic understanding of all Laravel’s pros and cons, we should look at the different types of websites Laravel is best suited to. This will give you a clearer idea if choosing Laravel for your web app project is the right choice or not.
1. B2B Websites
Laravel is an ideal choice for building B2B websites as it comes with many key features that are needed in a standard B2B website, such as support for third-party applications, a high level of security, automated task management tools and instant solutions to complex website requirements wordblog .
2. Forums
If you need to build a forum for your product/service or a forum-based website, Laravel is the ideal choice for you. It comes with smart data protocols, effective traffic management systems and a powerful ORM that provides instant connectivity. It also has many attractive design templates for forum websites.
3. Blogging Websites
Since Laravel is such a lightweight framework, it can be ideal for a blogging website. It also comes with many in-built features that support blogging requirements, such as content sharing through different communication channels, subscription & registration options and more. Laravel also has efficient databases to store user content effectively, and it is scalable-ready, ensuring your blogging site won’t crash when your traffic increases.
4. Ecommerce Apps
Laravel is also capable of powering ecommerce apps as it comprises various payment method implementations, marketing automation tools, dedicated e-commerce packages with ready-to-use components, the highest level of security of personal and sensitive data & much more.
Final Words
These are the pros and cons of using Laravel to power your web applications. Make sure to understand all aspects of your web app requirement before deciding on which framework to choose for your project. If you wish to make use of any other PHP frameworks or different programming language to power your web applications, you should hire dedicated developers from a reputable IT firm that have expertise with various frameworks and programming languages.
