Laravel

Laravel is a web application framework with expressive, elegant syntax. Laravel 11 (2025) introduces a streamlined skeleton and native WebSocket server (Reverb).

When to Use

• Solo Developers / Small Teams: The ecosystem (Forge, Vapor, Nova) solves devops and admin needs.
• PHP Shops: The gold standard for modern PHP.
• Real-time Apps: The new Reverb server makes WebSockets a first-class citizen without external Node dependencies.

Quick Start

// routes/web.php
Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('welcome');
});

// app/Models/User.php
// Elegant Active Record
$users = User::where('active', 1)->get();

Core Concepts

Slim Skeleton (v11)

Laravel 11 removed Kernel.php and Middleware classes. Configuration fits in bootstrap/app.php. Example:

->withMiddleware(function (Middleware $middleware) {
    $middleware->validateCsrfTokens(except: ['stripe/*']);
})

Laravel Reverb

First-party WebSocket server written in PHP. Scalable and fast.

Ecosystem

• Livewire: Build dynamic UIs with PHP (similar to Hotwire/Blazor).
• Filament: Amazing Admin/Dashboard builder built on Livewire.

Best Practices (2025)

Do:

• Use Filament: For admin panels, it is vastly superior to Nova in 2025 for customizability.
• Use Pest: The new default testing framework. It’s beautiful and minimal.
• Use cast() attributes: Define model casts using the method syntax for clear type conversions.

Don’t:

• Don’t over-abstract: Laravel Facades (Route::, DB::) are fine. Don’t create Repository patterns unless you actually need to swap implementations.

References

• Laravel Documentation