Laravel is a free, open-source PHP web framework created by Taylor Otwell. It follows the model-view-controller (MVC) architectural pattern and provides developers with a robust set of tools and features to build web applications quickly and efficiently.
Elegant syntax: Laravel provides an expressive and clean syntax that aims to make coding in PHP more enjoyable and readable.
Modular packaging system: Laravel uses Composer for dependency management, allowing you to easily add and manage third-party packages in your project.
Blade templating engine: Laravel comes with a lightweight yet powerful templating engine called Blade, which allows you to write templates with PHP code in a simplified manner.
Eloquent ORM: Laravel includes Eloquent, an Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) system that simplifies database interactions by allowing you to work with databases using an object-oriented syntax.
Artisan Console: Laravel provides a command-line interface called Artisan, which offers various helpful commands for tasks like database migrations, testing, and more.
Middleware: Middleware in Laravel allows you to filter HTTP requests entering your application, providing a convenient mechanism for performing actions before or after the request enters the application.
Routing system: Laravel has a simple and expressive routing system that allows you to define routes and their corresponding actions in a clean and readable way.
Testing support: Laravel encourages testing by providing support for PHPUnit and a convenient testing environment.
Laravel is widely used for developing a variety of web applications, from small projects to large-scale enterprise applications. It has a strong community and a growing ecosystem, making it a popular choice among developers for building modern, scalable, and maintainable web applications.