Whether you use any early versions of Laravel or any other backend or full-stack web development software, this post can pique your interest. With Laravel 9 released at the beginning of 2022, one might wonder if it is wise to switch to Laravel 9, or should you restrain yourself from doing so?
So, before you start working your brains on the matter, let’s first walk you through this framework and what’s new in Laravel 9.
What is Laravel?
Laravel is an open-source, PHP-based, server-side web framework, used to develop robust web applications. The framework follows MVC architecture (Model – view – controller) to simplify the way developers code and build seamless applications.
The framework makes it easier for Laravel experts to perform the various basic operations like routing, authentication, session, caching, etc. that forms the basis of nearly every web application. It is needless to say that the platform is well-suited for developing simple to complex web applications with its rich library, templates, and tools.
It is no news that Laravel is one celebrated framework for creating robust backend and even front-end for web applications. Its newly launched version came with a lot of new features that you do not want to miss out on!
Let us look at the reasons and explore the features of Laravel 9 to understand!
Why Should You Switch to Laravel 9?
Laravel version 9 features plenty of new additions compared to its predecessor update. And with that, the prospects of switching to the platform become brighter.
New features that persuade you to switch to Laravel 9 are –
PHP requirement
Laravel framework uses several components of the Symphony application framework for developing top-of-the-shelf applications. And Laravel 9 relies hugely on the latest Symphony v6.0, which is dependent on PHP 8. Thus, you need to work on the most up-to-date PHP 8 version for working with Laravel 9.
New query builder interface
The all-new query builder interface is extremely useful for refactoring, type hinting, and static analysis. Laravel experts working on the latest version can use the interface for efficient, time-saving, and error-free coding.
Anonymous stub migration
In the earlier version of Laravel, there was a Github issue. The issue occurred during migration while attempting to recreate the complete database whenever there was more than one class of the same name.
Even though Laravel 8.37 first introduced the anonymous stub migration to rectify the GitHub issue, it was entirely solved in the Laravel version 9, eliminating any name collisions in the migration class.
PHP 9 String functions
While Laravel uses the latest PHP 8 version, it also recommends that Laravel experts make use of the latest string function of PHP 8. The various string functions used inside the IlluminateSupportStr class are –
- str_sarts_with(),
- str_contains(),
- str_ends_with(), etc.
While these are a few noteworthy features of Laravel 9 to note, these features aren’t the only reasons for you to switch to Laravel 9. You can check some other reasons mentioned underneath.
However, if you have decided to switch, you might as well hire Laravel developers for the job! It is crucial to hire dedicated Laravel developers who can swiftly assist you with the migration process without losing any data or causing any hassle.
Why Upgrade From Laravel 8 to 9?
- The web applications built on Laravel 9 are more consistent when compared to the ones developed on its previous versions. The reason is that Laravel 9 uses Symfony mailer instead of Swift Mailer. The use of Symphony Mailer ensured full compatibility with tools like Twig and ensured there were no conceptual errors as there were with Swift Mailer.
- Compared to the early versions of Laravel, version 9 is more prepared to avoid any occurring hangs with a default timeout of 30 seconds in HTTP clients. So, if the server can’t respond within 30 seconds of a query, it will throw an exception. However, the earlier Laravel versions sometimes did hang indefinitely, causing an issue.
- The ‘when or unless’ methods are implied for authentication of the password input by users. However, there was an error in the earlier Laravel versions as the conditional argument would execute automatically. And, the results would always be true whenever you pass the closure. This made the password authentication deceitful. However, this problem is resolved in Laravel 9.x.
Made a decision already? You can learn what more safety measures you need to prepare for the migration when you hire Laravel programmers.
Takeaway
Laravel 9 emerged as a low-maintenance release compared to its predecessor updates, despite the addition of several new features and bug removal. The platform pushes Laravel experts to work with the latest and updated PHP and PHP 9 string functions and provides them with simple and secure ways of coding web applications. Now, it is up to you to decide whether it is the best time for you to switch to Laravel 9.
Summary
Laravel 9 is here to make some remarkable changes to the methods of development with the use of PHP 9, PHP string, and various Symphony 6.0 components like Symphony Mailer, Flysystem 2, etc. This blog talks about all these new features and the reasons you should plan for a switch to Laravel 9 in 2022.
