Laravel Introduction: The Modern PHP Framework

Laravel is a modern PHP framework designed to make web development easier, faster, and more enjoyable.

Before Laravel, developers had to write a lot of repetitive code for routing, security, database access, and validation. Laravel solves this by providing a clean structure and powerful built-in tools.

What is Laravel?

Laravel is an MVC (Model-View-Controller) framework. This means:

• Model handles data and database logic.
• View handles HTML and UI.
• Controller connects requests to business logic.

This separation keeps your code organized and easy to maintain.

Why developers choose Laravel

Laravel is loved because it offers:

• Clean and readable syntax
• Strong security (CSRF, hashing, validation)
• Built-in authentication
• Eloquent ORM for databases
• Huge ecosystem and community
• Excellent documentation

Laravel is used for:

• SaaS platforms
• REST APIs
• Admin dashboards
• E-commerce backends
• Enterprise systems

How Laravel fits in a web app

flowchart LR
  A[Browser] --> B[Laravel Application]
  B --> C[Eloquent ORM]
  C --> D[(Database)]
  B --> E[Cache / Queue]
  B --> F[Mail / APIs]

Laravel acts as the brain that handles requests, talks to the database, and returns responses.

What you will learn in this series

You will learn how to:

• Install and configure Laravel
• Work with databases
• Build CRUD applications
• Secure routes and users
• Create APIs
• Optimize performance
• Deploy Laravel apps

In the next tutorial, we will install Laravel and explore its folder structure so you feel confident navigating a real project.