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You already know WordPress is one of the best CMS platforms. But did you know a significant reason behind it is its plugins. They make the feature and functionality integration quite easy. So what about Laravel? Does it have something similar? The answer is, yes. Comparing Laravel and WordPress, essentially, packages are to the former what plugins are to the latter.
Think of packages as pre-built tools that tackle common development needs, saving you time and effort from scratch. For instance, Laravel Debugbar provides a handy debugging toolbar to pinpoint issues in your code. Similarly, if you need user authentication with social media, Laravel Laravel Socialite is the answer.
So what other packages are frequently used by the Laravel development services? Well, that’s what we’ll discuss in this blog. Let’s start without further ado.
What is a Laravel Package?
A Laravel Package is essentially a bundle of pre-written code and functionality that can be easily integrated into your Laravel application.
As I stated earlier, packages in Laravel are like plugins or extensions in other platforms. Developers use them to extend the functionality of their applications without reinventing the wheel. These packages can include anything from authentication systems to utility functions, form builders, payment gateways, and much more.
Types of Laravel Packages
- Official Packages: These are maintained by the Laravel core team and offer essential functionalities that integrate seamlessly with the framework. Examples include Laravel Cashier (subscriptions) and Laravel Scout (search).
- Community Packages: Developed by the vast Laravel community, these packages address a wide range of functionalities. You can find packages for user authentication (Laravel Socialite), and much more.
- Custom Packages: You can even create your own custom packages to encapsulate reusable functionalities specific to your project’s needs. This promotes code organization and maintainability.
Basically, Laravel packages can help you streamline the development process.
Why Use Laravel Packages?
As you know, Laravel packages are quite beneficial for the development process. Here are a few reasons to opt for the packages:
Faster Development
The biggest advantage is undoubtedly accelerated development. Packages provide pre-built, well-tested functionalities, eliminating the need to code everything from scratch. This saves you significant time and resources, allowing you to focus on your application’s core features and unique functionalities.
Reduced Code Complexity
Integrating well-maintained packages often means incorporating clean, well-tested code into your project. This improves the overall maintainability of your application’s codebase. Clean code is easier to understand, modify, and debug in the future, both for yourself and other developers.
Community Support & Best Practices
Many popular Laravel packages boast active communities with extensive documentation, tutorials, and forums. This translates to readily available support when you encounter issues or require clarification. Additionally, packages are often developed following Laravel conventions and best practices, ensuring a smoother integration and a more consistent codebase.
Standardized Solutions
Packages offer solutions that are already tailored to work seamlessly within the Laravel ecosystem. This promotes consistency throughout your application. There is less risk of compatibility issues that might arise if you were to code features from scratch using various libraries.
Access to Advanced Features
The Laravel community is constantly innovating, and packages often provide access to cutting-edge functionalities that might be challenging or time-consuming to develop yourself. You can integrate advanced features like social logins, complex search capabilities, or robust media management solutions without reinventing the wheel.
In essence, Laravel packages not only save development time but also contribute to a cleaner, more maintainable codebase. That’s why they are so prevalent among the Laravel development experts.
Official Packages vs Community Packages
Official packages are those that are developed and maintained by the creators of the Laravel framework or by closely affiliated teams. These packages often provide essential functionality or tools that complement the Laravel ecosystem.
They are typically well-documented, follow best practices, and receive regular updates and support from the Laravel community.
On the other hand, community packages are developed and maintained by members of the broader Laravel community. These packages address specific needs or provide additional features not included in the core Laravel framework.
While community packages may vary in quality and support, many of them are actively maintained and widely used by Laravel developers.
Get the most out of Laravel packages.
Best Laravel Packages
There are officially supported packages from Laravel itself, and a vast repository of community-driven packages. Both offer valuable functionalities, with official packages receiving guaranteed support and updates alongside Laravel releases.
Laravel Debugbar (Community Package)
This is a must-have for any Laravel developer. Debugbar integrates a debugging toolbar directly into your browser. That helps display valuable information like executed database queries, rendered views, request data, and cache usage. This real-time feedback helps pinpoint issues and streamline the debugging process.
Laravel Sanctum (Official Package)
Sanctum simplifies API authentication in Laravel applications. It leverages Laravel’s built-in authentication services to provide a lightweight and secure solution for authenticating API requests using tokens. This is ideal for building modern web applications with separate frontend and backend functionalities.
Laravel Socialite (Community Package)
Building login options from scratch for social media platforms like Facebook, Google, or GitHub can be tedious. Socialite streamlines this process by providing a unified API for integrating social logins. It handles the redirection, authorization, and retrieval of user information from these platforms, making it easier to implement social authentication in your Laravel application.
Bagisto (Community Package)
While not strictly a Laravel package, Bagisto is an open-source eCommerce platform built on top of Laravel. It offers a comprehensive set of functionalities for building online stores, including product management, customer accounts, order processing, and payment gateways. It’s a great option if you’re looking for a quick and pre-built solution for your e-commerce needs.
Laravel Jetstream (Official Package)
Building user interfaces for common tasks like registration, login, email verification, and password resets can be repetitive. Jetstream offers a collection of pre-built UI components for these functionalities.
That lets you quickly integrate these features with a modern design aesthetic. It saves development time and ensures consistency throughout your application.
Laravel Voyager (Community Package)
Managing the backend of your Laravel application can be cumbersome. Voyager provides a user-friendly admin panel interface for managing users, roles, permissions, content, menus, and other aspects of your application. This allows non-technical users to manage content and settings without needing direct access to the codebase.
Laravel Scout (Community Package)
Implementing robust search functionalities within your application requires integration with search engines like Algolia or Elasticsearch. Scout acts as a bridge, allowing you to easily connect your Laravel application with these search engines.
That lets you implement efficient full-text search capabilities, enhancing the UX for finding relevant content within your application.
Laravel Mix (Official Package)
Mix is a build tool based on Webpack. It simplifies the process of compiling Sass/LESS to CSS, compiling and minifying JavaScript using tools like Babel and UglifyJS, and managing versioning for your application’s assets (CSS, JavaScript). This streamlines the process of preparing your frontend assets for production use.
Laravel Backup (Community Package)
Data backups are crucial for any web application. Backup provides a convenient solution for creating database and file backups of your Laravel project. You can configure it to store backups on various storage services like Amazon S3 or Dropbox and automate the backup schedule. This ensures you have a recovery plan in place in case of unexpected data loss.
Laravel Telescope (Official Package)
Telescope is a debugging monitoring tool that provides detailed insights into the inner workings of your Laravel application. It collects data about database queries, mail deliveries, queued jobs, and other aspects of your application’s execution.
This information is displayed in a user-friendly dashboard. That lets you pinpoint performance bottlenecks or identify potential issues during development and debugging.
Laravel Folio (Official Package)
Laravel Folio is a routing package for Laravel applications. It simplifies the process of creating and managing content-driven websites. Folio achieves this by using a “page-based routing” system.
With Folio, you create Blade templates within a designated directory (often called pages). The presence of these Blade templates automatically creates corresponding routes in your application. So, instead of writing route definitions, you simply create the Blade template for your content. This can be a significant time-saver for simple websites like brochures, landing pages, or documentation sites.
Laravel Dusk (Official Package)
Dusk provides a framework for writing browser automation tests. These tests simulate user interactions within a web browser. That lets you automate testing of your application’s user interface and functionalities.
It ensures your application works as expected from a user’s perspective and helps catch regressions during development.
There are several other packages available offering similar functionalities. But if you want a more personalized package for your Laravel website, consult with our Laravel development agency. Our experts will help create and customize packages specific to your site.
How to Install Laravel Packages?
Installing packages in Laravel websites is quite straightforward, thanks to Composer. It is one of the best web development tools and helps with dependency management for PHP and Laravel projects.
Before installing the packages, make sure you have Composer on your system. You can check it by running composer –version in your terminal. If not installed, download it from the official website.
Step 1: Open Terminal: Open your terminal application and navigate to the root directory of your Laravel project. This is typically the directory containing the composer.json file.
Step 2: Identify Package Name: Locate the name of the package you want to install. You can find package names on the official Laravel documentation or community repositories like Packagist.
Step 3: Install Package: Run the following command in your terminal, replacing <package-name> with the actual name of the package you want to install:
composer require <package-name>
Step 4: Update Dependencies: After running the composer require command, Composer will download the package and its dependencies. Once the download is complete, run the following command to update your project’s dependencies:
composer update
Some packages may have additional configuration steps after installation. Be sure to consult the package’s documentation for any specific instructions.
FAQs on Best Laravel Packages
- Consider the specific functionality you need for your application.
- Research available packages and their features.
- Look for packages with active communities and good documentation.
Conclusion
Laravel ecosystem boasts an impressive collection of packages that can significantly enhance your development experience. From core functionalities like authentication and authorization to advanced features like social logins, packages can be excellent for all development needs.
Remember, choosing the right package depends on your specific project requirements. When selecting a package, consider factors like official vs. community support, feature set, documentation quality, etc.
So, need help with selecting and integrating the best Laravel packages? Then consult with our Laravel specialists today!
