For the development of your website you have a lot of software at your disposal. At Van Ons we have been working with Laravel for quite some time. Laravel is a PHP framework in which we realize more complex and extensive projects. Why do we choose Laravel and when do you choose Laravel over a standard solution? We will explain it to you in this message.
What is Laravel?
Laravel is an open source PHP framework. A framework ensures that programming in a specific programming language is easier, clearer and faster. A framework gives programmers the opportunity to easily set up components that are often found in an application. And without sacrificing the quality of the codebase. So you use a framework for custom projects, but as a programmer you can use some here and there shortcuts.
Why do we use Laravel?
Frameworks come in many shapes and sizes and they all have their own specialties. We choose Laravel for a number of reasons.
- Laravel is easy to combine with other software and tools. Many sites and applications rely on other tools or software. With Laravel it is a piece of cake to integrate those tools and software. Think of caching (such as Memcached) or mailing services
- Laravel is very popular and has an active community. As a result, there are regular (security) updates and the documentation is in order.
- Laravel attaches great importance to security. By default, Laravel offers good protection against SQL injection, cross site requests and cross site scripting
When should you choose Laravel?
Actually, the question here is not so much when you choose Laravel, but rather when you choose to build your site altogether custom to build instead of using existing CMSs such as WordPress.
We always look at what wisdom is per project. For a website with a homepage, a news overview, portfolio items and a contact page, we always advise you to go for a 'standard package' such as WordPress. When you start working with my environments, links with other systems such as Salesforce or extensive functionalities, we always recommend customization. For 'middleware' (software that sits between two systems) we would almost always choose Laravel development.
The reason you choose customization in these cases is because you want to build something that scalable is. Scalable in the sense that it should still work well in five years, that you can easily add new functionalities and that it can handle many visitors. A standard package cannot always keep those promises. With customization, you decide how you set everything up yourself, so you have complete control over the scalability of your site.
Even when it comes to speed, you are usually better off with customization. You can often optimize existing systems less because every piece of code is needed to make the whole thing run. With customization, you decide how you set up and program everything yourself, so you can immediately take the speed into account.
You can always combine!
It is not said that you make a choice between either customization or a standard package. Combining is always possible and in many cases is also the smarter choice. For example, when you have a website with very basic functions, but where you also offer the option to allow users to log in to a my environment.
In those situations it is often worthwhile to work with both standard software and Laravel. You then build the website in WordPress, the mining environment or application in Laravel. You give both the same layout or corporate identity and the user will not notice any difference in terms of look and feel. Under the radar, however, you offer the user a better experience and you, as the owner, have a website that is completely future-proof, safe and good. You combine the best of both worlds!