Laravel is one of the most popular PHP frameworks, known for its elegant syntax and powerful features. According to the JetBrains Development Ecosystem Report 2023, over 60% of PHP developers use Laravel, and nowadays, many opt for this framework for their professional development.
Whether you're a beginner just starting with web development or an experienced pro looking to boost your skills, this blog post will guide you through the best educational resources available for mastering Laravel. From online courses and books to YouTube channels and community resources, you'll find everything you need to become proficient in Laravel.
Online Courses
Online courses are a great way to learn Laravel at your own pace. They offer structured learning paths and hands-on projects to help you build real-world applications. Here are some of the best online courses available:
Laracasts
Often referred to as the "Netflix for developers", Laracasts, managed by well-known Laravel community member Jeffrey Way, offers a vast library of high-quality video tutorials focused primarily on Laravel. It also includes a series on modern PHP development, testing, and other related technologies. With its active community and discussion forums, Laracasts is an essential resource for any Laravel developer. The content ranges from beginner to advanced levels, covering fundamental concepts, real-world applications, and best practices. Here, you can find the most interesting ones depending on your experience:
30 Days to Learn Laravel is an extensive series of video tutorials by Jeffrey Way that covers Laravel from the basics to advanced topics. It includes topics like routing, controllers, Eloquent ORM, testing, and deployment. The hands-on approach helps learners build applications while understanding the underlying concepts of Laravel.
For those who are already familiar with Laravel and ready to go deeper, discover the free PhpStorm for Laravel Developers series that is tailored to help Laravel developers maximize their efficiency using PhpStorm, a JetBrains IDE for PHP. This series covers a variety of topics, including PhpStorm basic setup and configuration, code navigation, refactoring, and debugging, specifically within a Laravel project. The series dives into advanced features like live templates, macros, and integration with Laravel tools such as Tinker and Artisan. Each episode is designed to help developers become more productive by leveraging PhpStorm’s powerful features tailored for Laravel development. This video course doesn’t require a Laracasts subscription.
Subscription price: USD 15/month or USD 99/year, providing access to all content, including series on modern PHP development, testing, and more. Some courses are free.
Laravel Daily
Laravel Daily offers a variety of tutorials and tips focused on Laravel development and is managed by experienced web developer Povilas Korop. The content is updated regularly and covers both beginner and advanced topics in Laravel.
If you’ve just started with Laravel, the Laravel 11 For Beginners: Your First Project free course might be an ideal choice for you. It offers a practical introduction to Laravel 11 and, instead of delving deep into theory, focuses on creating a small project to manage a blog. By completing this project, learners will understand the essential features of Laravel, such as routing, Blade templates, database migrations, and Eloquent ORM.
For an intermediate level of experience, discover the Laravel Collections Chains: 15 Real Examples course, which focuses on mastering Laravel Collections through 15 practical, practical examples. Laravel Collections provide a fluent, convenient wrapper for working with arrays and data sets in Laravel. This course helps developers leverage the power of Collections to write more efficient and readable code, including various use cases such as data filtering, transformation, aggregation, and complex manipulations.
Subscription price: USD 29/month or USD 129/year. Some courses are free.
Codecourse
Codecourse offers a variety of tutorials on web development at both the beginner and intermediate levels, with a strong focus on Laravel. Check out the Laravel Basics series, which takes you through the most-used parts of the framework to get you up and running in no time.
Udemy
Udemy is a large educational platform offering a variety of courses across different fields. One notable course for Laravel beginners is PHP with Laravel for Beginners - Become a Master in Laravel.
This tutorial is designed to take a learner from a complete beginner to a Laravel master. It covers the basics of PHP and Laravel, including routing, controllers, views, and database interactions with Eloquent ORM. The course includes hands-on projects, allowing you to build real-world applications and solidify your understanding. With lifetime access to the course materials, you can learn at your own pace.
Course price: USD 23 (prices may vary).
Coursera
Coursera is an online learning platform that partners with top universities and organizations worldwide to offer online courses, specializations, degrees, and professional certificates across a wide range of subjects.
The Mastering Laravel Framework and PHP course covers the essentials of PHP and the Laravel framework, which is ideal for beginners with some prior PHP knowledge. It starts with setting up a development environment, followed by fundamental PHP concepts, including arrays, functions, and form handling. The course then delves into the Laravel framework, covering key features such as routing, middleware, controllers, and views. Students will learn to build web applications from scratch, applying best practices in Laravel. The course includes video lectures, readings, and quizzes.
Course price: free to audit; сertificate available for a fee (typically around USD 49).
Books
Laravel: Up & Running by Matt Stauffer
Approved by the creator of Laravel, Taylor Otwell, Laravel: Up & Running is a comprehensive guide that takes you through the essentials of Laravel, from installation to advanced features. Matt Stauffer, a renowned Laravel developer, explains concepts clearly and provides practical examples. The book covers routing, middleware, controllers, Eloquent ORM, Blade templating, and more. It also dives into advanced topics like testing, queues, and real-time event broadcasting.
“Not only is Matt one of the most knowledgeable members of the Laravel community, he is also a fantastic teacher. I’m proud to recommend this book as a thorough, extensive guide to the Laravel framework.” – Taylor Otwell, Creator of Laravel
This book is a must-have for both new and experienced Laravel developers looking to solidify and deepen their knowledge.
Price: USD 39 (may vary).
YouTube Channels
YouTube is a fantastic resource for learning Laravel through video tutorials. Here are some of the best channels to help you get started:
Traversy Media
Traversy Media, created by Brad Traversy, is renowned for its high-quality web development tutorials. On this channel, you can find the Laravel Crash Course tutorial designed for beginners, which covers everything from setting up a Laravel project to deploying it.
The Net Ninja
The Net Ninja is another well-known source that provides detailed and well-structured tutorials on web development. The Laravel Tutorial for Beginners playlist covers the basics of Laravel, from installation to building a full-fledged web application. Each video is short and focused, making it easy to follow along and grasp the concepts.
Documentation and Community Resources
Official Laravel documentation
The Laravel documentation is a comprehensive and up-to-date resource covering every aspect of the framework. It includes detailed explanations, code examples, and guides on various features such as routing, middleware, authentication, and more. It's an essential resource for both new and experienced developers working with Laravel. Regular updates ensure that you have the latest information on new features and best practices.
Laravel News
Laravel News is a community-driven portal that provides the latest news, tutorials, and packages for Laravel. It features articles on new releases, best practices, and tips for improving your Laravel projects. The site also includes interviews with prominent Laravel developers and information about upcoming events and conferences. Laravel News is an excellent way to stay updated on the latest trends and developments in the Laravel ecosystem. It's a valuable resource for continuous learning and keeping your skills sharp.
Laravel Forum
The Laracasts forum is a vibrant community where you can ask questions, share knowledge, and discuss all things Laravel. The forums are frequented by experienced developers and Laravel experts who provide helpful advice and solutions. You can find discussions on a wide range of topics, from troubleshooting specific issues to best practices for Laravel development. Participating in the forums is a great way to connect with other developers and learn from their experiences. It's an excellent resource for getting support and staying engaged with the Laravel community.
Laravel Community
Laravel.io is a Laravel community portal that provides various resources to help developers learn, share, and connect with others. It includes a forum, a compendium of articles written by community members covering a wide range of topics, a real-time chat that allows developers to communicate with each other for quick assistance, information, and more.
Closing thoughts
This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the best resources available for learning Laravel. Whether you prefer structured online courses, in-depth books, engaging YouTube tutorials, or active community participation, there's something here for every learner. Dive in, start exploring, and take your Laravel skills to the next level!
