Laravel 11: An In-Depth Review of The Leading PHP Framework

Guilherme Assemany

Senior Developer

Laravel is a leading PHP framework known for its elegance, simplicity, and power. The latest release of this framework not only continues Laravel’s tradition of providing an intuitive and powerful toolkit for developers, but it also brings significant improvements and exciting new features designed to enhance the development experience.

As we dive into Laravel 11, we will explore its new application structure, tools like Pest and SQLite, and a series of other enhancements that makes Laravel a top choice for PHP developers worldwide. But first, let’s quickly review the release process for new versions of Laravel.

Table Of Contents

Laravel Framework Release Cycle
Core Updates in Laravel 11
The New Features of Laravel 11
Laravel Developer Tools and Ecosystem
Should you Upgrade Your Laravel App to the Latest Version?
Conclusion

Laravel Framework Release Cycle

Since version 6, Laravel has adopted the Semantic Versioning standard. This means that whenever Laravel adds something that is compatible with older versions of the framework, it increments the second number of the version. So, to make it clearer, when an update occurs from Laravel 11.1 to 11.2, it is basically the same as what happened in Laravel 5 (before semver) from 5.5.1 to 5.5.2.

Now, Laravel releases a new major version every 12 months. This cycle is well established and reliable, with new versions released every year since Laravel 6 (which was released on September 3, 2019).

Well, now that you are more familiar with this update process, how about we get into the meat of this article?

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Core Updates in Laravel 11

Originally published on Mar 28, 2022Last updated on Jun 13, 2024

Key Takeaways

What is the difference between Laravel 10 and 11?

Laravel 11 introduces several enhancements to streamline development and enhance the health and performance of your application. Three key additions include new ‘make’ commands, ‘dumpable’ trait, a method-based approach to attribute casting, and the ‘once’ memoization function. The 'make' commands simplifies code creation, while the default health check endpoint provides a straightforward method for monitoring application health.

The 'Dumpable' trait facilitates debugging and eager loading with limits to improve efficiency. The adoption of a method-based approach for attribute casting offers greater flexibility in model management, and the inclusion of the 'Once()' memoization function optimizes performance by ensuring callable execution only once. Together, these features reinforce Laravel's commitment to providing a robust and developer-friendly framework for building modern web applications.

What is the life cycle of Laravel 11?

Laravel adopted the [Semantic Versioning standard](https://semver.org/) in version 6. This means that whenever Laravel adds something that is compatible with older versions of the framework, it increments the second number of the version. So, to make it clearer, when an update occurs from Laravel 11.1 to 11.2, it is basically the same as what happened in Laravel 5 (before semver) from 5.5.1 to 5.5.2.

Now, Laravel releases a new major version every 12 months. This cycle is well-established and reliable, with new versions released every year since Laravel 6 (which was released on September 3, 2019).

What is the latest version of Laravel 2024?

The latest version of Laravel is 11, which was released in March 2024. Laravel 11 offers an attractive range of features that not only perform well, but also greatly enhance the developer experience, boosting productivity.

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