W. Jason Gilmore's Easy Laravel 5: A Fast-Paced, Fun, and Hands-On Guide to Laravel 5
W Jason Gilmore - Easy Laravel 5 - 2015
If you are looking for a fast-paced, fun, and hands-on guide to the powerful Laravel 5 framework, you should check out Easy Laravel 5 by W. Jason Gilmore. This book will teach you how to quickly implement your own project idea by following along with the creation of a real-world project covering concepts such as models, views, RESTful controllers, and forms integration. In this article, we will give you an overview of the book, its author, and its benefits.
W Jason Gilmore - Easy Laravel 5 - 2015W Jason Gilmore - Easy Laravel 5 - 2015
Introduction
Laravel is one of the most popular and widely used PHP frameworks in the world. It offers a simple and elegant syntax, a rich set of features, and a vibrant community of developers. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, Laravel can help you build amazing web applications with less code and more fun.
But how do you learn Laravel? There are many resources available online, such as documentation, tutorials, videos, and courses. However, sometimes you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information or confused by the different versions of Laravel. You may also want to learn by doing a practical project rather than just reading theory or watching demos.
That's where Easy Laravel 5 comes in handy. This book is written by W. Jason Gilmore, a veteran PHP developer and author of several best-selling books on PHP and web development. He has been using Laravel since its early days and has a deep understanding of its features and best practices. He has also updated the book several times to keep up with the latest changes and improvements in Laravel 5.
In this book, you will learn how to build a real-world web application called TODOParrot, a simple yet powerful tool for managing personal and professional projects. You will learn how to use Laravel's core components such as Eloquent ORM, Blade templates, controllers, routes, authentication, authorization, RESTful APIs, testing, and more. You will also learn how to use some of the most popular Laravel packages such as Cashier, Socialite, Entrust, Fractal, Faker, and PHPUnit.
By the end of this book, you will have a solid foundation in Laravel 5 and be able to create your own web applications with confidence and ease.
Summary of the book
The book consists of eight chapters and over 200 pages. Each chapter covers a specific topic related to Laravel development and explains it with clear examples and code snippets. Here is a brief summary of each chapter:
Chapter 1: Getting Started with Laravel
In this chapter, you will learn how to install Laravel on your local machine using Composer or Homestead. You will also learn how to configure your environment variables, database connection, application key, debug mode, timezone, locale, and URL. You will also get an introduction to the Laravel directory structure, the artisan command-line tool, and the Laravel service container.
Chapter 2: Database Migrations and Seeding
In this chapter, you will learn how to use Laravel's database migrations and seeding features to create and populate your database tables. You will also learn how to use the Schema and DB facades, the fluent query builder, and the tinker REPL tool. You will also create your first model for the TODOParrot application, the List model.
Chapter 3: Eloquent ORM and Collections
In this chapter, you will learn how to use Laravel's Eloquent ORM to interact with your database using an object-oriented approach. You will also learn how to use Laravel's collections to manipulate arrays of data with ease. You will also create two more models for the TODOParrot application, the Task and Category models, and define their relationships using Eloquent.
Chapter 4: Blade Templates and Forms
In this chapter, you will learn how to use Laravel's Blade templating engine to create dynamic and reusable views for your web pages. You will also learn how to use Laravel's form helpers to create and validate forms with less code and more security. You will also create the views for the TODOParrot application, such as the layout, navigation, homepage, list creation, list editing, task creation, task editing, and category management.
Chapter 5: Controllers and Routes
In this chapter, you will learn how to use Laravel's controllers and routes to handle the requests and responses of your web application. You will also learn how to use Laravel's middleware, request, response, redirect, and session facades to add functionality and logic to your controllers and routes. You will also create the controllers and routes for the TODOParrot application, such as the ListController, TaskController, CategoryController, WelcomeController, and UserController.
Chapter 6: User Authentication and Authorization
In this chapter, you will learn how to use Laravel's authentication and authorization features to secure your web application. You will also learn how to use Laravel's Auth facade, password hashing, password reset, remember me token, authentication filters, gates, policies, roles, and permissions. You will also implement user registration, login, logout, profile editing, password changing, password resetting, role assignment, and permission checking for the TODOParrot application.
Chapter 7: RESTful APIs and Transformers
In this chapter, you will learn how to use Laravel's RESTful APIs to expose your data and functionality to other applications or devices. You will also learn how to use Laravel's Response facade, resource controllers, route groups, rate limiting, API authentication, CORS middleware, Fractal package, transformers, and pagination. You will also create a RESTful API for the TODOParrot application that allows users to access their lists, tasks, and categories using JSON format.
Chapter 8: Testing Laravel Applications
In this chapter, you will learn how to use Laravel's testing features to ensure the quality and reliability of your web application. You will also learn how to use Laravel's TestCase class, PHPUnit package, Faker package, database transactions, model factories, mocking, HTTP tests, browser tests, and Dusk package. You will also write unit tests, feature tests, and browser tests for the TODOParrot application that cover its main functionalities.
Benefits of the book
There are many benefits of reading Easy Laravel 5. Here are some of them:
Learn by doing a real-world project
One of the best ways to learn a new framework is by building a real-world project that solves a real problem. By following along with the creation of the TODOParrot application, you will not only learn the theory behind Laravel's features but also see them in action. You will also learn how to apply best practices, design patterns, and coding standards to your Laravel projects.
Master the core features of Laravel 5
Laravel 5 is a powerful framework that offers a rich set of features that can help you build amazing web applications with less code and more fun. By reading this book, you will master the core features of Laravel 5 such as Eloquent ORM, Blade templates, controllers, routes, authentication, authorization, RESTful APIs, testing, and more. You will also learn how to use some of the most popular Laravel packages such as Cashier, Socialite, Entrust, Fractal, Faker, and PHPUnit.
Stay updated with the latest revisions
changes and improvements to its features and ecosystem. By reading this book, you will stay updated with the latest revisions of Laravel 5 and learn how to use them in your projects. The author has also provided a companion website where you can download the source code of the book and get access to additional resources and updates. Conclusion
Easy Laravel 5 is a great book for anyone who wants to learn Laravel 5 quickly and easily by building a real-world web application. It covers all the essential topics and features of Laravel 5 and explains them with clear examples and code snippets. It also teaches you how to use some of the most popular Laravel packages and how to test your Laravel applications. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, this book will help you master Laravel 5 and create amazing web applications with confidence and ease.
If you are interested in buying this book, you can find it on Amazon or on the author's website. You can also follow the author on Twitter or visit his blog for more tips and tricks on Laravel and web development.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about the book:
Q: What are the prerequisites for reading this book?
A: You should have a basic knowledge of PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You should also have a local development environment set up with PHP, Composer, MySQL, and a web server.
Q: What version of Laravel does this book cover?
A: This book covers Laravel 5.8, which is the latest version at the time of writing. However, most of the concepts and features are applicable to other versions of Laravel 5 as well.
Q: How can I get the source code of the book?
A: You can download the source code of the book from the companion website at https://www.easylaravelbook.com/code. You can also clone the GitHub repository at https://github.com/wjgilmore/easylaravel.
Q: How can I contact the author?
A: You can contact the author by email at wj@wjgilmore.com or by Twitter at @wjgilmore. You can also visit his website at https://www.wjgilmore.com or his blog at https://www.wjgilmore.com/blog.
Q: How can I leave a review for this book?
A: You can leave a review for this book on Amazon or on Goodreads. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will help the author improve his future books. 71b2f0854b