That’s what Laravel is for PHP - an organizer. It gives this programming language a sense of structure.
Laravel – core principles and functionality
They say that when the devs play the Word Association game, they immediately say “Laravel” when the lead says “PHP”. Some say “mama, save me” and some “the love of my life”, but that’s the part of another story… What we are about to immerse into is the world of Laravel and if you still have a strong urge to read about PHP – here’s the link. But promise to come back!
So, Laravel is PHP’s open-source server-side framework. It organizes the code, provides many additional features and commands (so you won’t have to create them from the scratch). Overall, the framework improves the popular programming language so that even Java supporters decide to drink coffee near the window during the rain rather than post deprecating memes about PHP.
PHP and Laravel are like two very look-alike black hoodies. However, when you come closer, you understand that the first one is chaotically put together, with odd stitches, and the pocket weirdly large. The second one is proportional and the stitches are completely invisible, the pocket is spacious and does not stand out a mile.
It’s like with PHP you have freedom of choice – any kind of stitch, any fabrics, any method of joining. You can make a great hoodie if you already have much experience. However, there’s a chance you end up with a duster. With Laravel, you get a set of pre-written rules about how the hoodies should be so they would be wearable, washable, and durable… It’s easier to make a product of good quality if you have all dos and don’ts.
So, one of the features of PHP is its lack of strict architecture and strong typing. It provides great flexibility, but also makes the code unstructured. That’s what Laravel is for PHP – an organizer. It gives this programming language a sense of structure, enriching it with pre-written classes and other functionalities. So what is Laravel used for?
Modular packaging system contains functions that you would have to code from the scratch without Laravel;
Eloquent Object Relational Mapping turns database tables into classes, improving the access and the manipulation with them;
The Artisan command-line interface allows using pre-build commands that the Laravel processes to a computer in the form of lines of text;
Authorization techniques in Laravel make it easier to configure and control authentication feature;
Model-View-Controller architecture, dividing an app into three components: MODEL (data retrieval, state maintenance), VIEW (an interface and UI rendering), CONTROLLER (operations that can be performed with data, user input);
SapientPro Laravel Project Example
CONTENTOO
It’s one of the many sites built with Laravel that SapientPro worked on. We decided to tell you about this project, as it contains the most vivid Laravel features, but first a little about the platform. Marketing and content creating gathers together copywriters and designers on Contentoo platform. They write about their skills and experience, provide sample works, and wait…
The client – somebody who needs a banner or a text, or the whole marketing strategy – registers on the platform and creates a task. He or she writes all the requirements for it and waits… The system creates the best matches. It performs an automatic selection of content creators for each project, and the work begins. That’s the first feature Laravel enables. Such an approach to clientele distribution improves future performance. Other features are the following:
The system has 7 access levels;
The clients can add their favorite content makers to their team;
Tasks are structured by deadlines, dates, briefings, and participants;
There are also messenger and deadline reminders available.
Top 5 websites built with Laravel
GLOBAL DIETARY
Global health has become a number one priority only now, in 2020, after the epidemic showed us how vulnerable we are even with all the money and knowledge. Well, Global Dietary has worked on global health improvement when it still wasn’t mainstream. Based at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, it specifically targets food consumerism issues and how different diets affect the health of whole nations. Their founders’ opinion is that human relationships with food are not fully known yet. What we know is that different nutrients have influence over our body depending on our habits, diseases, genetics, sex, age, nationality. However, the exact influence, like if you eat A and B you get C, is not revealed. That’s what Global Dietary is trying to find out – the interrelated links and data concerning residents of all countries, and their food habits.
This Laravel website example allows signing up and logging in to have access to downloadable data. It also enables you to share personal dieting habits, as the more people objectively evaluate their eating lifestyle, the more reliable the data is. Also, along with the registration, you get an opportunity to subscribe to e-mail news. Moreover, let’s not forget that it’s basically a large database that gets updated every day, and it must produce viable results, after analyzing each entry. That proves that if you want a web app that includes multiple-users registration, database configuration, management, and email dissemination – Laravel (and PHP) is a great solution.
STARTUPS.COM
There are numerous start-up accelerators all over the world. We wrote articles about Asian, European, Australian, and North American companies of that kind. They are powerful – having their community of developers, tech specialists, businessmen, and funders. Accelerators made it a tradition to arrange numerous meetings and help you to build and later pitch the startup. However, its major drawback is that you need to move to the country/city of their residence. Startups.com allows you to learn everything distantly. It contains 600 masterclasses and online courses, modern business planning tools, and an entire online community of people who can help you with startups either with pieces of advice or with funds.
This one is a SaaS product, as to get access to all courses and apps, you need to subscribe to the plan that suits you best. It includes signing in and signing up features, and as soon as its software as a service – it is due to gather the whole database of users. Boom – the good old PHP framework comes to the rescue with its great performance in the database configuration. So why use Laravel for SaaS?
it perfectly manages the multi-user app;
it simplifies free trials delivery and deal based offers.
Startups.co keeps track of more than 1 million new ideas for startups and manages 16 million signed up users.
BONAPPETOUR
It is a platform for travelers who aim to have a more interesting adventure in a new country than just visiting architectural monuments. BonAppetour creates an online community for hosts and guests to provide and experience authentic national cuisines of Rome, Barcelona, Paris, Florence, Singapore, and Bangkok. Instead of going to some fancy and overdue restaurant, get a real Roman barbeque or come to a Thai dinner party. That will immerse you in the cultures more than any tour guide. Homemade authentic food rocks!
The platform allows you to register and manage your profile. It has three user roles: guests, hosts, and admins. First, search for available solutions by town or by date. Then book the offer and choose the number of guests. Make a payment through BonAppetour’s platform and – voila – the only thing left is to wait for the date to come. Laravel enhances all of these functions and makes their delivery seamless. Effective database interaction makes information gathering and management highly productive.
LARACASTS
Learn before you earn, and with that Laracasts can definitely help you. It provides various courses for web developers to acquire new skills and improve old ones. The product is created by Jeffrey Way, who has worked with Laravel since its third version. He is one of the main speakers of each Laracon. Creating numerous podcasts, lectures, and tutorials on this programming language, he learned how to explain difficult topics in simple words. You will be in good hands of a knowing professional, ehm, sorry, of LARAVEL PROFESSIONAL, and it’s important to note.
It has a CaaS model of business delivery (Content as a Service), so basically, Laravel manages different plans and access roles here. The platform also offers a group account, so the registration is somewhat more difficult than the standard one. By the way, you can learn Laravel from the scratch here, and perhaps the next startup or website we write about, will be yours?
EXPLOREGEORGIA
A great example of how the country’s government can use an online world in order to promote its economy. In this case, the tourism economy. ExploreGeorgia is a platform that leads you all the way through the unique places of this beautiful country. Well, an online version of the places, as on this website will have to choose where to travel with your offline baggage on an offline plane… well, you get it. ExploreGeorgia reminds the websites of some cool tour agencies, only with Georgia being the only destination.
The menu contains all towns available for visiting, and they are divided into northern, central, and southern. This way, it is convenient to plan the trip so that you could travel to different cities with minimal time loss. You can also find a destination by the type of activity you want to experience or the kind of cuisine you want to try.
So what is a data extraction and why would you automate it? Data extraction or scraping isn’t just searching for the information you need on the Internet. Modern challenges in web economics demand a bigger-scale approach. The amount of data you need to analyze grows exponentially due to a great number of factors. Only by gathering a huge amount of data simultaneously can you mine data and find necessary trends, which will provide new opportunities to your business.
Building websites for special purposes and services is difficult. You have to keep up with modern challenges as well as fight for the speed, performance, and security of the software you develop. To achieve this web developers often use frameworks to deal with tasks faster and more effortlessly. Since most of the websites, web services, and applications are built using PHP it is important to be aware of all novelties regarding frameworks for PHP developers. One of the most useful and popular frameworks for PHP programming languages is Laravel. This open-source framework is used for a vast majority of middle-sized PHP-based projects nowadays. But why is it that popular? Due to many things, actually.
Old-fashioned approaches to finances and economics are already history. Why is fintech getting so popular? It is faster, more accessible, and more flexible. Fintech apps’ appearance was one of the main recent trends in global economics. But what does one need if they want to design their fintech application?
If you are to run some kind of profitable or non-profitable project you have to raise money for it. In commerce it is called investment. There have always been many ways to receive financial support for your business. However, modernity has brought new instruments into this.
Scientia potentia est – knowledge is power. This ancient saying has been gaining importance throughout the ages. In the age of Information, when all the major human activities are transferred into the Internet and websites seem to be the main platforms for interaction between people and businesses, data analysis is crucial. Nowadays web-scraping as a web data analysis method is widely used by salesmen, politicians, news agencies, gambling lovers, and anyone who is informed about its benefits.
Today neither students, nor teachers and professors can imagine their daily routine without online studying due to the ongoing COVID19 pandemic. Dozens or even hundreds of online services are being used daily by both scholars and education staff. However, it is not the pandemic we should give all the credit for online education to exist. Alternative ways of studying appeared as early as the XIX century. Advanced tech such as steam engines and the railway assured faster and more reliable correspondence delivery, thus making remote education possible. The very next important step towards online learning was made in the XX century with computers and the Internet being invented. In 1989 the University of Phoenix became the first institution to launch a fully online collegiate institution providing both bachelors and masters degrees. A few years later in 1994 the International University (Missouri) became the first fully online-based higher educational institution. Nowadays all major universities use online platforms to provide education services to their students. And again: it all has started even before the pandemic. Educational institutions used numerous platforms as secondary or even major tools in their work. The most advanced universities paid great attention to elearning platforms development. They used online platforms as a single place, where students could send their homeworks and get all the necessary materials to cram for their exams.
Web development trends for 2021 display society’s needs in the booming technological era. Simple dynamic pages and animations are not enough anymore to meet the demands of an average Internet user. The new tools make websites more convenient and engaging. For example, voice search saves users’ time. Internet of Things allows the connection between modern smart appliances. Progressive web apps provide better quality, speed, and offline usability. As a user, once you try a webpage packed with best practices and up-to-date features, other websites that lack innovation seem extinct. Before naming the most popular development trends, let’s understand why PHP goes well with them.
Real-time interaction has become a turning point in the way consumers use technologies. Just look! Instant messaging replaces small talks and makes group discussions more convenient. Search engines answer almost any question in several seconds. Navigation apps show destinations and even estimate the time you need to cover to get there. Modern software solutions make users’ lives easier in every aspect. Time-efficiency and convenience are now valuable assets in the world of technologies. Location-based apps are one of the ways you can enter this software market and yield profit.
There are many pros of using PHP, and they often become the determining factor of why 76% of websites use it and why it’s still so popular, although it was invented in 1994.
Time-traveling is easier than hacking blockchain. To change the info in the blocj you will have to pick thousands of hashes on thousands of computers. It’s like traveling to numerous dimensions.
Long-term prospects for your business and immediate reaction to market trends - we acquire it with Dynamic Pricing Software. Active promotion and regular product extension is not all you should focus on by far if you want to get the most out of your eCommerce resource. Ultimately, you should be able to timely react to ever changing market tendencies and adjust your prices accordingly.Usually, you can see with a naked eye that the demand for certain goods is rising and your competitors start to boost prices. This superficial approach, however, can only be efficient if you have no more than a hundred items to manage. So how to go about these things when you have about a thousand or more items? Software tools for adjusting dynamic pricing for the eCommerce website will come in more than handy.
When choosing the right framework for developing an e-commerce website, we strongly advise you to pay special attention to performance.The first thing to consider while developing your business in the digital era is making it work online. The eCommerce is growing at a quick pace, providing business owners with numerous opportunities.Although, building a website for the e-commerce purposes is far from an easy task, as the online shoppers are more experienced now and their requirements are also higher, there are numerous ways to do that starting from simply adding an online shop to the existing website, up to building the site from scratch using PHP frameworks.If adding e-commerce function may be so easy with all those SaaS and CMS available, you may wonder why bother and implement complex PHP solutions. Our team has the answers, go on reading to find them out.
Everything is going online now, from communication to making business, working, and shopping. The advancement of technologies enables businesses to become faster, bigger, broaden abilities and attract more customers. The retail industry has been facing the outcomes of digitalization probably the most. Still, brick-and-mortar shops are having their benefits and people use them more than e-commerce websites. The other side of this issue is an extremely tough competition. To get more clients, businesses have to adjust to the changing consumer habits and for that purpose use the advantages of digital technology. However, the good news is coming – there is the solution and it is the digital transformation in the retail and consumer industry. Yet, it may turn out to be a real challenge, in this article SapientPro development team has outlined the key points you need to know if you want to put your business to a higher level.
Implementing Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence may become your best solution to improve user experience.The pace at which the e-commerce industry is growing and enlarging nowadays is immense, as well as the people’s expectations. By 2021, e-commerce sales are expected to reach 17.5 percent of all retail sales worldwide. What else can be done to improve user experience and make online purchasing easier? Alongside with e-commerce, various technologies are evolving to meet the customers’ needs. Such terms as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning or chatbots are heard almost everywhere now. While some people express their concerns that AI will run the world soon and leave the people unemployed, more and more eCommerce business owners choose to implement new technology and reap benefits of it. Together with advantages, the eCommerce brings to customers, there are still some drawbacks and issues occurring while shopping online.
Keep your website free from clutter. In most cases, it is better when it is simpler.Imagine you have two options: going to a brick-and-mortar store and spend there hours waiting in long queues or staying in your cozy home and order everything you need in just a couple of clicks. Most people would definitely go for the first one. This being one of the most significant factors why the eCommerce industry is growing so rapidly. Sure, having an e-commerce website is a plus to your business, but you should never forget about the complexity and many efforts you have to apply. Here the question arises: is it really worth it? Our answer is definitely yes! In this article, our e-commerce development team will tell you exactly what you need to know before starting building an e-store from scratch.
Marketplaces provide then buyers with the opportunity to find everything they need in one place instead of time-consuming surfing numerous websites.With such an immense grow of e-commerce retail, investing in this industry is likely to become one of your best decisions. Every Year the e-commerce market is increasing by around 17% and now marketplaces account for nearly half of global online sales. The same as small shops are giving way to large malls, online customers tend to choose marketplace platforms over single-brand e-shops. Why not jump at a chance then and create your own marketplace website? This way you will provide your buyers with the opportunity to find everything they need in one place instead of time-consuming surfing numerous websites. In this article, SapientPro e-commerce team gathered what is important for you to know before building a marketplace website.
Without a payment gateway, you can develop an e-commerce business only if it is non-profit.Buying all you need at any time without leaving your cozy home has recently transformed from sensational news into an everyday routine. You could hardly find a person who has never tried online shopping. Although it is fast and convenient, there is one factor that makes the people abandon their virtual carts in the process of buying in e-stores – transaction security. Want your customers’ checkout go as smoothly as possible? Take care of secured and easy-to-use payment gateway for your e-commerce business!
Can you imagine living in a house without a lock in the front door? I’m sure you don’t really like this idea as everyone wants to feel safe at home. And if we talk of the online world, the reasons to lock the website are stronger, as the risks of someone getting into your site grow higher. The question of WordPress websites security is of the greatest importance. Why? Being the most popular website platform, WordPress became a great target for hacker attacks and malicious infections. So, if you care about safety, choosing a good security plugin must be among your priorities. The majority of problems with WordPress are connected with unsafe plugins. Note the important point that if you buy the license, the chance your site is secured would be higher. You can find a lot of such plugins on the Internet and for you not to get confused, we compiled five the most popular and reliable alternatives in our opinion, outlined their advantages and drawbacks.
