With the ever-growing popularity of PHP, many frameworks of it have popped up to help you with it. Out of all such frameworks, one of the most popular ones is Laravel. Its expressive and elegant syntax makes it a go-to web application framework for developers. Laravel web app development has risen exponentially in the last few years.
Such is the popularity of Laravel that it has been releasing an update every six months. But this time, with a delayed update of Laravel, we are seeing a major change in it with Laravel 9 - the latest Laravel version that was released on 8 Feb 2022.
Wondering what’s new in Laravel 9? Then this article is for you. But before getting there, let’s dive deeper into Laravel.
What is Laravel?
Laravel is one of the most widely used PHP frameworks that help developers easily develop complex web applications. It follows a model-view-controller (MVC) architectural pattern that makes handling code easier. Confused? I get it that you didn’t get it.
In layman’s terms, Laravel is a group of pre-written codes (library) and tools. This saves your time and effort by not having to write a code for such parts that are used commonly in many websites. So you can reuse that code for your project.
What are the key features of Laravel?
There surely has got to be a lot of great features of Laravel, given its popularity. But we will keep it to some of the most impactful ones.
1. MVC architecture support
MVC or Model-View-Controller architecture is the most commonly used architecture pattern used in frameworks these days. Why? Because it makes code easier to understand.It separates Model (backend) from View (frontend) and ensures smooth communication between client and server using a Controller.
2. Intact security
With an increasing threat to security these days, Laravel has rolled up its sleeves to protect web applications. And the good news is that Laravel itself takes care of this concern with its inbuilt web application security.
3. Unique unit-testing
Laravel allows you to flex your coding skills by helping you run several test cases. This helps you to check whether the changes you have made work as expected or not.
4. Innovative template engine
Dynamic websites have become a necessity for a business these days. And Laravel understands that! Its innovative template engine allows developers to easily create a dynamic website.
5. Authentication
You don’t need to write authentication code with Laravel! Since Laravel 5, authentication has got simpler with an inbuilt system that does the tough job for you.
What’s new in Laravel 9?
This might be the most nagging question for you on this topic. So here are some of the notable changes in Laravel 9: -
1. Brand new home page design
With the launch of the latest Laravel version, its website also has got a new and better look.
2. New PHP requirement
Laravel 9 asks for PHP 8 as a bare minimum requirement because it requires Symphony 6.0 which in turn demands PHP 8.
3. New query builder interface
The interface of query builder has just got even better. FYI, a query builder provides a drag-and-drop graphical user interface (GUI) for creating SQL queries.
4. New design for routes:list
One of the issues with the earlier versions of Laravel was the complexity of huge routes when tried viewing on the console. But it has got better this time.
What are the new features in Laravel 9?
Since this update has been made after a year as compared to a six-month gap earlier, you get many a new feature in Laravel 9. Some of them are: -
Anonymous Stub Migrations are now the default
PHP 8 String Functions
Moved mailer functionality from SwiftMailer to Symfony Mailer
Flysystem 3.x
Controller Route Groups
Soketi Echo Server
Enum Eloquent Attribute Casting
Implicit Route Bindings With Enums
Laravel Scout Database Engine
Laravel Breeze API & Next.js
This is not it. Laravel 9 has many more things in the bag. You can have a look here.