What Laravel Developers Actually Build
Laravel is used for building full-stack web applications, APIs, and SaaS platforms. Here's where Laravel developers work:
Web Applications
Laravel excels at building full-stack applications:
- SaaS platforms - Multi-tenant applications, subscription management
- E-commerce sites - Shopping carts, payment processing, inventory management
- Content management systems - Blogs, news sites, documentation platforms
- Business applications - CRMs, project management tools, internal tools
Companies: Deltanet Travel, Neighborhood Lender, and many startups use Laravel for their platforms.
REST APIs
Laravel can build robust APIs:
- RESTful APIs - Mobile app backends, SPA backends
- API-first applications - Headless CMS, microservices
- Third-party integrations - Payment gateways, external services
Real-time Applications
With Laravel Echo and broadcasting:
- Live dashboards - Real-time data updates
- Chat applications - Real-time messaging
- Notifications - Push notifications, live updates
Why Laravel is So Popular
Elegant Syntax
Laravel's syntax is clean and expressive:
// Simple routing
Route::get('/users', [UserController::class, 'index']);
// Eloquent ORM
User::where('active', true)->get();
// Collections
collect([1, 2, 3])->map(fn($n) => $n * 2);
Powerful Features Out of the Box
Laravel includes everything you need:
- Eloquent ORM - Beautiful database abstraction
- Authentication - Built-in auth scaffolding
- Queues - Background job processing
- Caching - Redis, Memcached support
- File Storage - S3, local, FTP support
- Testing - PHPUnit integration
Excellent Documentation
Laravel has some of the best framework documentation in any language. Developers can learn quickly and find answers easily.
Strong Ecosystem
Laravel's ecosystem includes:
- Laravel Forge - Server management
- Laravel Vapor - Serverless deployment
- Laravel Nova - Admin panel
- Laravel Spark - SaaS starter kit
- Laravel Horizon - Queue monitoring
The Modern Laravel Developer Profile
Understanding Laravel Conventions
Laravel follows convention over configuration. Strong candidates understand:
- MVC pattern - Models, Views, Controllers organization
- Routing - Route definitions, route model binding
- Middleware - Request filtering and authentication
- Service providers - Dependency injection container
- Artisan commands - CLI tooling for common tasks
Red flag: A developer who fights Laravel's conventions will struggle. Laravel works best when you follow its patterns.
Eloquent ORM Mastery
Eloquent is Laravel's database abstraction. Strong candidates understand:
- Models and relationships - hasMany, belongsTo, manyToMany
- Query builder - Complex queries, eager loading
- Migrations - Database schema management
- Factories and seeders - Testing and development data
Modern PHP Practices
Laravel uses modern PHP features. Strong candidates understand:
- Namespaces - PSR-4 autoloading
- Type hints - Return types, parameter types
- Traits - Code reuse
- Composer - Dependency management
- PSR standards - PHP-FIG standards
Common Hiring Mistakes
1. Treating Laravel Like Old PHP
Laravel is modern PHP. Don't ask about old PHP patterns (mysql_ functions, procedural code). Laravel developers use modern PHP features.
Fix: Focus on Laravel-specific patterns: Eloquent, service providers, middleware, Artisan.
2. Ignoring Eloquent Knowledge
Eloquent is central to Laravel. A developer who doesn't understand Eloquent relationships and query building will struggle.
Fix: Ask about Eloquent relationships. "Show me how you'd model a User-Post-Comment relationship."
3. Overemphasizing Framework Experience
Laravel is well-documented and learnable. A strong PHP developer learns Laravel in 2-3 weeks.
Fix: Focus on PHP fundamentals and problem-solving. Laravel knowledge follows naturally.
4. Missing Testing Awareness
Laravel has excellent testing tools. A developer who doesn't write tests will create technical debt.
Fix: Ask about testing. "How do you test Laravel applications?" Look for PHPUnit, feature tests, unit tests.
Recruiter's Cheat Sheet
Resume Green Flags
- Production Laravel experience with scale metrics
- Mentions of Eloquent relationships and migrations
- Testing experience (PHPUnit, feature tests)
- Laravel ecosystem tools (Forge, Vapor, Nova)
- Modern PHP practices (type hints, namespaces)
- API development experience
Resume Yellow Flags
- Only tutorial projects (Laracasts tutorials)
- No mention of Eloquent or migrations
- Old PHP patterns (mysql_ functions)
- No testing experience
- Generic "PHP developer" without Laravel specifics
Technical Terms to Know
| Term | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Eloquent ORM | Laravel's database abstraction layer |
| Artisan | Laravel's command-line interface |
| Blade | Laravel's templating engine |
| Middleware | Request filtering (auth, CORS, etc.) |
| Service Provider | Dependency injection container configuration |
| Migration | Database schema version control |
| Factory | Model factories for testing data |
| Seeder | Database seeding for development |
Questions That Reveal Skill Level
| Question | Junior Answer | Senior Answer |
|---|---|---|
| "Explain Eloquent relationships" | "hasMany and belongsTo" | Explains all relationship types, eager loading, N+1 problem, query optimization |
| "How do you structure a Laravel app?" | "MVC pattern" | Discusses service providers, repositories, service layer, separation of concerns |
| "How do you handle authentication?" | "Laravel has auth built-in" | Explains guards, providers, middleware, API tokens, OAuth integration |
Skills Assessment by Use Case
If You're Building Full-Stack Apps
- Priority: MVC understanding, Blade templating, Eloquent, authentication
- Interview focus: "Design a Laravel application for [your domain]"
- Red flag: Can't explain MVC or Eloquent relationships
If You're Building APIs
- Priority: API resources, authentication (Sanctum), request validation
- Interview focus: "Build a REST API for [your domain]"
- Red flag: No understanding of API design or authentication
If You're Building SaaS Applications
- Priority: Multi-tenancy, queues, jobs, background processing
- Interview focus: "How would you handle multi-tenant data isolation?"
- Red flag: No understanding of queues or background jobs