Getting Started with Laravel 4

by Raphael Saunier

Getting Started with Laravel 4

Genres: Programming

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2014

Reviews

[Christopher Pitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Good

This book is aimed at newcomers to PHP development, and to Laravel 4 in particular. It doesn't disappoint. It starts slow, talking about the need for, and role filled by frameworks. It explains what Composer does, and why it's useful for frameworks like Laravel. It's not the typical "Laravel needs Composer, here's the code you use" stuff.

There are 40 pages of what is essentially a very gentle introduction, before you even start writing code. This is often a vital, missing part of introductory books, and it is refreshing to see Raphaël Saunier approach it delicately.

The book demonstrates how to build a simple application, introducing readers to the most basic usages of Eloquent, Schema Builder, Blade and the various other parts of the framework. None of it's complicated. Yet it's not just a rehash of the official docs, so there's value to be had in coding alongside.

The remaining sections cover (albeit briefly) testing, building artisan commands, structuring more advanced applications and using the in-built helpers. If you are familiar with Laravel, then you "may want to consider acquiring a different book". As I said, this book is aimed at newcomers. It may not be as comprehensive (or indeed as popular) as Code Bright, but it's worth your time.

The Bad

I mentioned Code Bright, back there, because it is the definitive introduction to Laravel 4. Building on the success of Code Happy (the Laravel 3 iteration), Dayle has written a great book.

I was mildly surprised to find this book slight more expensive than Code Bright. At the current rate of exchange, it's about 3 pounds more costly to buy this book than it is Code Bright. When you consider that this book is also teaching less, and just one of many Laravel 4 books currently vying for public attention, it's difficult to tell where this book is likely to end up.

I want to tell you to buy it, and if you can get it for cheaper (though the price tag I was comparing was directly from Packt) then it might not be a bad deal. If you need to choose between the two, I suggest you first consider Code Bright before this book. I mean no disrespect to Raphaël. Code Bright is just a better deal.

[Rohit Tiwari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought i need laravel 5 book, I started with Laravel4 so as to understand the framework, Guess what i could now understand the various technical aspects of the framework, and that too i quick amount of time, I eventually went on to read laravel.com/documentation which made lot of sense now after reading the Getting Started with Laravel 4 book. Must be a Quick Read for beginners.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with clearly defined, step by step examples. A wonderful reference. Too bad I finished it just as the software was updated and completely revamped. Look forward to reading the next edition.

[zygimantus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well organized and good introductory book for Laravel 4.