Show HN: Laravel 4 - This framework is revolutionizing PHP. (opens in new tab)

(laravel.com)

38 pointstwo12y ago30 comments

30 comments

I don't know why everyone it is so excited about this framework. I've had a quick look over the documentation a few months ago, when there was this hype around this new kid from the block thinking that there must be something really interesting.

I stopped reading the minute I saw they are using a template engine for rendering the views. I simply don't get it. Why would someone use a separate template engine when PHP itself is a very good one to use ? Why to add an extra layer to the app ?

We don't have to recreate anything, the views should be pure PHP, not code written in some <insert template engine name here> that is then translated to PHP.

yowmamasita12y ago

It is stated in Laravel's homepage that you can use either native PHP or Blade in your views

misterjinx12y ago

hmm...so in the docs they say about pure php views, but in the quick start guide they mention only about blade. since this is what I read, this has to be the cause for letting me believe the only way you can create views is with the template included in the framework.

bpicolo12y ago

The templating is very much optional just for people who are used to templating.

bdclimber1412y ago

I used Laravel for a small project for the past couple months. Although I started web development in PHP, I am strictly a Ruby/Rails developer right now and I have to say working in Laravel felt very natural and right at home. I'm not saying that being Rails-like is merit in it's own right, but I had that same feeling with Laravel as I did when I first started using Rails. I'd highly recommend trying this framework and hope with more projects we can see some solid documentation grow.

daGrevis12y ago

The way I see it is that the problem with Laravel is it's core — PHP. If you want to use Rails-like framework — use Rails and you get Ruby for free!

askar12y ago

I was heavy on CodeIgniter before and ever since I launched another website with Laravel I don't feel like going back to CI. In fact if I get time I wanted to relaunch my other sites with Laravel. If you closely follow the MVC frameworks and the way they are moving forward Laravel sounds like right on the track which CI lags big time. Give it a serious try and you will know. I got completely hooked with its robust Routing system.

ryhanson12y ago

Very glad to see this on the front page. This is by far the best PHP framework out there. It still blows me away what it is capable of.

BaconJuice12y ago

Hi, I'm currently a heavy codeigniter user, looking for a switch. Can you please give me some of these examples you speak of that blow you away? Thank you.

moneyrich112y ago

one that got me was in a controller you can:

     return Model::Find('asdf=1');

and it outputs a json serialized array as html. so your ajax action is like one line of code, yay. or you can $row = Model::Find('asdf=1'); and manipulate in php from there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSt9rBa_oUM this guys series on laravel is really good.

1 more reply

T3RMINATED12y ago

lets just say im a ex-CI user that wrote a huge app in CI and abandoned CI and went w/ Laravel the move cost 4 months of devs and about 20K... it was worth it.

with no leadership and clear vision CodeIgniter is screwed... L4 follows PHP-Fig standards and it uses composer packaging, it has great leadership, community and is growing...

JesseObrien12y ago

Great work by Taylor and everyone else involved. PHP hasn't seen a framework quite like this before and it's refreshing using it.

Braunson12y ago

Such an awesome framework, many great features, fills in voids left by it's predecessors.

bndr12y ago

Really sorry to say this, but my eyes hurt from the text contrast. Maybe you should consider changing the font size?

chipotle_coyote12y ago

I'm pretty sure it would be fixed by changing the CSS font-weight directive; Lato is a great font, but they need to use 400 weight as normal, not 300, unless they're going to bump the font size up. (Personally I'd also darken the text color just a little, but it becomes surprisingly readable just by changing the weight with the Chrome/Safari CSS inspector.)

T3RMINATED12y ago

same issue reported by 9 others. i think they will fix soon.

tpsc12y ago

A new podcast on Laravel: http://laravel.io/

twoOP12y ago

I don't get why this was removed from the front-page?

ryhanson12y ago

Kinda lame... Not sure why either.

powertower12y ago

> Just got four times better...

How?

BaconJuice12y ago

I think its some sort of pun to the fact that it's Laravel "4"

btamilio12y ago

congrats, L4 team!

zfran12y ago

what's so revolutionizing about it?

chipotle_coyote12y ago

While "revolutionary" is awfully subjective, Laravel 4 -- along with Composer, the package manager that it's using -- goes an awfully long way toward making PHP nice to use. Yes, that's also subjective, but I suspect that's unavoidable. I'm looking at it from the perspective of a long-time PHP developer who grew to like Ruby on Rails and really like Flask and Django in Python.

As for the facade that lets you make a lot of static calls, y'know, I don't think that does significant harm, and it makes it possible to write Laravel code that's almost as easily readable/understandable as Flask and Sinatra.

dxm12y ago

Nothing. They use the word "artisan" which makes me think it's made for hipsters rather than programmers. Almost everything is static, libraries are named like "Illuminate" and "Elloquent", it's as if an art student has worked out how to write static classes.

krapp12y ago

The naming conventions are a bit pretentious, sure but it's being all static is apparently not so clear cut: https://tutsplus.com/lesson/when-they-say-laravel-shouldnt-u...

DesignerDon12y ago

You really think that's what it is?

T3RMINATED12y ago

it gets you laid

T3RMINATED12y ago

"CodeIgniter is dead" - Phil Sturgeon

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

30 comments

misterjinx12y ago

We don't have to recreate anything, the views should be pure PHP, not code written in some <insert template engine name here> that is then translated to PHP.

yowmamasita12y ago

It is stated in Laravel's homepage that you can use either native PHP or Blade in your views

misterjinx12y ago

bpicolo12y ago

The templating is very much optional just for people who are used to templating.

bdclimber1412y ago

daGrevis12y ago

The way I see it is that the problem with Laravel is it's core — PHP. If you want to use Rails-like framework — use Rails and you get Ruby for free!

askar12y ago

ryhanson12y ago

Very glad to see this on the front page. This is by far the best PHP framework out there. It still blows me away what it is capable of.

BaconJuice12y ago

Hi, I'm currently a heavy codeigniter user, looking for a switch. Can you please give me some of these examples you speak of that blow you away? Thank you.

moneyrich112y ago

one that got me was in a controller you can:

     return Model::Find('asdf=1');

and it outputs a json serialized array as html. so your ajax action is like one line of code, yay. or you can $row = Model::Find('asdf=1'); and manipulate in php from there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSt9rBa_oUM this guys series on laravel is really good.

1 more reply

T3RMINATED12y ago

lets just say im a ex-CI user that wrote a huge app in CI and abandoned CI and went w/ Laravel the move cost 4 months of devs and about 20K... it was worth it.

with no leadership and clear vision CodeIgniter is screwed... L4 follows PHP-Fig standards and it uses composer packaging, it has great leadership, community and is growing...

JesseObrien12y ago

Great work by Taylor and everyone else involved. PHP hasn't seen a framework quite like this before and it's refreshing using it.

Braunson12y ago

Such an awesome framework, many great features, fills in voids left by it's predecessors.

bndr12y ago

Really sorry to say this, but my eyes hurt from the text contrast. Maybe you should consider changing the font size?

chipotle_coyote12y ago

T3RMINATED12y ago

same issue reported by 9 others. i think they will fix soon.

tpsc12y ago

A new podcast on Laravel: http://laravel.io/

twoOP12y ago

I don't get why this was removed from the front-page?

ryhanson12y ago

Kinda lame... Not sure why either.

powertower12y ago

> Just got four times better...

How?

BaconJuice12y ago

I think its some sort of pun to the fact that it's Laravel "4"

btamilio12y ago

congrats, L4 team!

zfran12y ago

what's so revolutionizing about it?

chipotle_coyote12y ago

dxm12y ago

krapp12y ago

The naming conventions are a bit pretentious, sure but it's being all static is apparently not so clear cut: https://tutsplus.com/lesson/when-they-say-laravel-shouldnt-u...

DesignerDon12y ago

You really think that's what it is?

T3RMINATED12y ago

it gets you laid

T3RMINATED12y ago

"CodeIgniter is dead" - Phil Sturgeon

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse