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Laravel Packages
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Top 10 Laravel Packages To Enhance Functionality Of Your Web App

Mihir Mistry,

Since its introduction, Laravel has been a game-changer in the PHP frameworks and community. It is a powerful tool that has made web development more accessible and efficient, giving a solid reason to use PHP.

Laravel is a backend framework that has seen rapid growth in recent years and needs no introduction. This PHP-based framework is the developer’s favorite because it simplifies software development by supporting the implementation of modules, plugins, components, and packages.

Hence, we surveyed and prepared a top Laravel package list to improve your web application and performance. 

Earlier, we compiled a list of the best 7 open-source PHP servers as well that our tech entrepreneurs liked so much. Why don’t you take a look at it since you’re, too, using PHP?

Now, before we get any further, it is a must to ensure you understand why and what packages are in software development. 

What is a Package?

Packages serve an essential role in Laravel by offering additional functionality. These bundles usually contain routes, controllers, views, and configurations explicitly created for Laravel applications.

You see, frameworks provide a structure for your code, making it easier to develop complex applications. At the same time, packages allow you to extend the functionality of the framework itself.

Frameworks attempt to simplify the development process by streamlining standard practices in developing major web projects such as packages, modules, plugins, and even components.

There are currently over 500 or maybe more Laravel packages. They offer all sorts of functionality suitable to various types of apps, from travel and appointment booking to eCommerce and instruction.

What are Useful Laravel Packages?

What are Useful Laravel Packages?

Packages can save you a lot of time and effort when developing web applications. Using Laravel packages, you can avoid writing code from scratch, which can be a tedious and time-consuming task. You can use and reuse it anywhere in the code.

There are different types of packages for Laravel; some, such as Behat and Carbon, are standalone that you can use with any framework that requests a COMPOSER.JS file.

Laravel plugins and packages are useful because they help reduce the amount of code needed for an application. This makes it easier to maintain the Laravel app and make updates.

Whether you’re building a blog, business app, or any other complex website, there are a lot of valuable packages available for Laravel. Some provide database management, user authentication, or even e-commerce functionality. You can even build your own database and user management systems with the Laravel framework.

Such packages can significantly enhance the functionality of your application and make it more secure and efficient. You can use them to create complex applications or just add a few useful features to your existing app. The best packages provide you with the ability to create complex and well-structured web apps without requiring too much knowledge.

How to install the Laravel package?

How to install the Laravel package?

Composer for Laravel is a package manager like NPM is for JavaScript. When you want to install a package or plugin in Larave projects, it’s a simple process – you just write a one-line code in the composer.json file. The composer automatically hauls the Package from packagelist.org, making your job a breeze.

You can use the below command line to install the Laravel package.

composer require packageowner/packagename

To fetch the updated Package, you have to use the below command.

PHP artisan update

To use the installed Package in Laravel, instantiate a new object 

$package = new Package

If the Package is namespaced, you need to use the below;

$package = new PackageNamespace\Package

To make sure vendor/composer/autoload_* files are valid, you can also check the main package source.

vendor/vendorName/packageName/[src or lib or whatever]/Package.PHP

List of Top 10 Laravel Packages Of 2023

Space

Roles and permissions play a heavy role in many web applications. To that end, Laravel offers many packages with a long history of development. One of the more prominent permission packages is Spatie Roles & Permission. Topics covered include assigning roles and permissions to users and assigning permissions to roles.

Advantages

  • Direct Permissions
  • Middleware
  • Roles
  • Permissions
  • Multiple Blade Directives and Artisan commands.

Entrust

This Package is helpful for role-based permissions in Laravel 5 applications. The Package allows you to define a set of roles to grant access to different parts of your Laravel application. The Package helps you create four different types of tables: the permissions table, roles table, role user table, and permission role user table. These tables will help you to manage user permissions and roles more effectively.

Advantages

  • Provides dynamic navigation
  • User relations to roles
  • Checking for different roles and permissions
  • Short syntax route filter
  • Easier installation

Eloquent-Pluggable

Eloquent-Sluggable is a package that makes it easy to create slugs for all the Eloquent models in your project. It is designed to create SEO-friendly URL slugs that can be used in your Laravel project.

Advantages

  • Strings are user-friendly
  • Easy to understand
  • Create slugs easily
  • Passes all the null value
  • Minimal configuration

Read Also: Best Laravel Tools That Can Make Your Project Successful

Laravel Debugbar

This Laravel package is one of the best for debugging purposes. It helps developers by providing a toolbar for developer applications. This Package is essential to improve debugging throughout Laravel web development. The Laravel Debugbar package reveals all the queries, whether it’s related to DB or routes, as well as templates and parameters.

Advantages 

  • It helps to Debug queries
  • It can also process during request data
  • Shows current route/controller
  • Displays exceptions, open views, DB queries
  • Authenticated

NoCaptcha

Spamming is a big problem, and the NoCaptcha Laravel Package was designed specifically to help with that issue. The Laravel package protects and validates your web app using Google reCaptcha. The main objective of this is to stop spamming and keep the website running smoothly. However, in order to use the Package, you must first get access to the API key.

Advantages

  • Allows multiple captchas on the same page as well as conditional login captcha
  • Not especially for robots
  • Secured access
  • Recaptcha with a secret key

Bagisto

In a very short time, Bagisto has managed to capture the attention of the Laravel community with its open-source Laravel eCommerce package. In addition to inventory management and multi-warehouse management, this Package also provides other valuable functionalities.

One of the best features of Bagisto is the admin panel. With it, you can control access levels, integrate multiple channels, and manage payment methods. If you’re looking for a Laravel package for an eCommerce project, this is one of the best ones you can use in 2023.

Advantages

  • Supports multiple channels
  • Allows using different currencies
  • More number of themes are available
  • Easy integration

Laravel Mix

Laravel Mix is a great tool for Laravel developers who want to use common CSS and JavaScript preprocessors in their applications. It provides a fluent API for defining webpack build steps, making it easy to get started without having to learn webpack yourself.

Hence, Laravel Mix is a tool that helps you compile and optimize assets in a Laravel app. It works similarly to building tools like gulp and Grunt. Even though Laravel Mix is designed for Laravel, it can also be used as an npm package outside of Laravel. So, If you’re looking for a tool to help you compile your assets, Laravel Mix is an excellent option as it covers 80% of Webpack’s use case, making it powerful support for web developers.

Advantages

  • Aims to make webpack very simple
  • Use of simple syntax to compile
  • Work well with different style sheets
  • Automatically monitors files for changes
  • Displays OS notifications

Laravel Telescope 

If you’re looking for a PHP debugger, the Laravel telescope is the best choice. It provides a wealth of information about all aspects of the application, including requests, cache operations, database queries, and variable dumps. This, in turn, has a positive impact on the Laravel development environment as a whole.

Advantages 

  • It provides a clear insight into data
  • Can schedule tasks “related” telescope records are also seen
  • Emails can be added
  • Custom migration
  • Easy for upgrading

Laravel Meta Manage

Laravel Meta Manager is an essential tool for anyone looking to improve their website’s SEO. It helps you to update your website’s Meta tags to comply with the latest best practices. This can lead to your website ranking higher on the first page of search engines, giving you a better chance of being seen by potential customers.

Laravel Slack

The Laravel Slack package is a great way to simplify your notifications process. With this Package, you can send messages directly from the Laravel platform to different channels, making it easier to keep track of conversations. You can also customize how you want things to be, making it simpler and more efficient for notifications.

Laravel Package Development Process

Some organizations opt to host their private repositories of packages for their own developers. This allows them to have more control over the development process and ensure that only approved packages are used. So, let us see what method you can follow if you want to create packages for your own use.

  1. Create a new folder for Laravel Package
  2. Name that folder and initialize it
  3. Load the Package from the composer.json via the autoload block
  4. Add Package service provider with an artisan command
  5. Add your package routes.php file 
  6. Create a Package controller
  7. Add views for the Package

We specialize in Laravel web development and have a team of experienced Laravel developers who can create custom solutions for our clients. If you have an idea for a Laravel project, let us know, and we’ll be happy to help you bring it to life.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Laravel packages?

Packages are a great way to add or extend the functionality of a Laravel application. They usually come with a collection of routes, controllers, and views that you can configure to meet your needs.

What is a composer JSON file in Laravel?

The composer.json file is a JSON file that is placed in the root folder of a PHP project. It is used to specify common project properties, metadata, and dependencies. In most ways, it is analogous to a .NET project file.

What is modularity in Laravel?

The modular approach in Laravel is very beneficial. It helps you to keep your code organized and makes it more reusable. With this approach, each module contains its own group of classes, routes, controllers, models, views, etc.

Mihir Mistry

Mihir Mistry is a highly experienced CTO at Kody Technolab, with over 16 years of expertise in software architecture and modern technologies such as Big Data, AI, and ML. He is passionate about sharing his knowledge with others to help them benefit.

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