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PHP 7.0 – Things You Need to Know About PHP Latest Version

Manmeet Anand — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 05:04:34 +0000

PHP latest version 7.0 is about to be launched in the market with its exciting features and impressive performance. According to W3techs, PHP has a market share of 81.5%. Among all PHP versions, 98.7% PHP websites are using PHP V5. However, the latest PHP version is expected to outperform all the previous versions.

If your website is developed on PHP based Content Management System like WordPress, Joomla, Magento, and Drupal, then this is the best time to upgrade your website because PHP 7.0 is a full package of surprising and cutting edge features.

PHP 7 is still in the development stage and a competed version will be released in November. But you can download its latest beta version and experiment it on your website to test what will and what will not work for your website. It will help you to fully prepare your website for the full version of PHP 7.0.

The first beta of PHP 7.0 was released in July 2015 along with the announcement of releasing full version of PHP 7.0 on November 12, 2015.

Here is a list of top 7 things you need to know about PHP latest version 7.0.

1. The Name

PHP 6 was expected to be a major release but the project failed due to several bugs. The performance was also not up to the mark. However, people confused the latest version of PHP with modified PHP 6.0. The dispute was resolved by naming the latest version as PHP Version 7.0 instead of PHP version 6.0.

2. Zend Powered PHPNG

Since 1999, Zend Engine has been used to power up PHP. It was launched when fourth version of PHP was released. Zend Engine II was launched along with the introduction of PHP Version 5.0. PHP latest version is powered with Zend New Generation. This is why it is also called PHPNG.

PHPNG supports almost all extensions except the following.

Interbase
MSSQL
PDO_OCI
OCI8
SYBASE_CT
PDO_DBLIB

A complete installation and usage guide for PHPNG is also available online.

According to Zend blog, PHPNG is already outperforming Facebook’s HHVM. Endi Gutmans, the founder of Zend, believes that PHP is a complete and dynamic ecosystem of innovations.

3. Abstract Syntax Tree

Abstract Syntax Tree or AST has already been implemented in PHP 7.0. It enables you to implement Syntax in intermediary structure easily. It allows you to emit opcodes directly from parser and remove a number of hacks to make implementation easier.

The use of AST will bring you two primary advantages.

Firstly, it makes maintenance of parser and compiler easier.
Secondly, it allows you to decouple syntax decisions from other technical issues.

4. Facilitating Error Handling

Handling catchable and fatal errors in PHP has never been easier than in PHP 7.0. PHP updates show that the new Engine Exceptions will replace old errors from PHP V5. In order to further facilitate the users, the Exception Base Class does not extend in the new Engine Exceptions.

This way, it provides you two different kinds of exceptions to handle the errors. The first one is traditional error handling and the second one is Engine Exceptions.

5. Cloud Computing Solutions

Zend has partnered with globally reputed cloud computing systems to allow its users to make their applications portable. With cloud computing solutions, you will not only be able to retrieve or extract your files, but you will also be able to exchange your files from one cloud to another cloud server whenever you need.

This PHP7 development with Zend will facilitate Ecommerce stores. Without affecting speed and performance of your web store, you will be able to develop light-weight websites along with keeping your data safe and secure. It will also allow the entrepreneurs to store their company data with optimized security.

6. 64-Bit Windows Support System

PHP is primarily naïve Linux member but the users can also run it on Windows systems. PHP 5.X series didn’t provide 64-bit Windows support system but PHP 7.0 does provide this support. Along with improving PHP 7.0 performance, it will allow the websites to support native 64-bit integers as well as large files.

The 64-bit Windows support system is in experimental stage. If the experiment is successful then the users will be able to confidently keep running their websites with new versions of Windows in future also.

7. Doubled Speed

PHP New Generation engine has been conceived on the idea of improved speed. With Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation, you can instantly run compilations instead of waiting for execution time. According to Zend, this PHP7 development will offer improved PHP7 performance in two ways.

Firstly, it will allow you to serve the same number of users or traffic load but by using fewer servers.
Secondly, the code of your site will be executed faster.

According to the official website of Zend, PHP 7 will be 2X faster.

PHP 7.0 is also significant to cleaner website for faster speed. For improving the speed and site performance, PHP 7 operates by cleaning the environment in two different ways.

It removes the functionality which had been deprecated in PHP 5.0 version. Here is a detailed study of deprecated functionality in PHP 5.0.
It removes the dead SAPIs and extensions or those which do not support PHP 7.0. Here is a complete understanding of how it removes dead SAPIs.

When upgrading to PHP latest version, remember that PHP 7.0 will break the code of any running legacy app. PHP 7.0 will also come up with surprises for developers including Combined Comparison Spaceship Operator and Declarations and Scaler Type Hints. With all these innovations and development, managing your PHP developed website will become easier than ever.

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5 PHP Techniques to Minimize Web Security Vulnerabilities

Manmeet Anand — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 04:27:45 +0000

Understanding the security of websites is mostly difficult for beginner developers. The simplest way to explain this school of thought is that a website is neither secure nor insecure. It is actually the rate of how much a website is secure. There is no black and white in website’s security; there is always gray area. The security of a website developed on PHP depends on the skills of the developer.

According to a study published in International Journal of Advances in Computer Networks and its Security in 2014, almost 90% of all the websites are vulnerable to the hackers’ attack.

A majority of the websites were hacked in last five years by targeting the website’s insecure coding. Common attacks are made on SQL Injection, Buffer Overflow, XXS and Remote File Inclusion. This is one of the reasons that most of the entrepreneurs want their websites to be developed on PHP.

But sensitive information can also be stolen from PHP developed websites by manipulating the URL parameter. Some common reasons of easy PHP hacking include mistakes in snippets, surprise input string or wrong combinations of PHP settings.

PHP Functionalities for Identifying Security Scripts

1.The programmers can send email through PHP script. If changes are made in the script or if the script is poorly coded, the mail server will automatically send a fake email to the programmer by fetching some information from the header. The fake email might look something like this.


$header = ‘From: ‘ . $_Get[‘from’] . \’’r\’’n\ .

 ‘Reply-to: . $-Get[‘replyto’] . \’’r\’’n\ .

$Mail = mail($_Get[‘to’],$_Get[‘Subject’],$_Get[‘Message’],$header);
 ?>
2.The hackers can access to root directory of server and damage the files by targeting the Web applications and launching an unauthorized operating system command. The input information is passed through GET or POST script. The hacker enters the domain name and malicious files are created in the www directory of server as filename.php. This attack is easily launched on poorly written PHP codes.

3.Remote File Inclusion attack is launched on poorly written web application codes or if the developer has enabled file inclusion on the server. The Remote File Inclusion attack is launched by interfering with ‘include’, ‘require’, ‘include_once’, and ‘require_once’ statements. In the previous PHP versions, the developers had the authority to enable or disable ‘allow_url_include’ to enable include, require, include_once and require_once functions. In PHP 5.2.0 Vulnerable script, allow_url_include is enabled by default.
4.One of the most common attacks is launched on error messages by Web Applications. The attackers trick these applications to reload or return with disclosed sensitive information. This attack is done to plan the major web hack attack.

5.Another common attack is made on php.ini file where most of the web configuration settings are stored. The vulnerable script is as follows.
 

………

 $incfile = $REQUEST[‘’file’’];include ($incfile.’’.php’’);

………
 ?>
5 Techniques to Minimize Web Security Vulnerabilities
For avoiding common attacks on PHP developed websites and web pages by the hackers, here are some easiest techniques to make the web a safer place for all.
1.Restrict Foreign Access
The first step to restrict the foreign access is to manage the configuration files, data files and scripting pages separately. The following script can be used in the Apache server in httpd.conf files.
 
 Order allow, deny

   
2. Select Correct Form Submission codes
GET and POST are the most common form submission techniques used in PHP coding. GET method is set to settings by default. If you use the GET form submission method, the hacker can easily interfere with and manipulate the exposed query string portion in the URL. It is highly recommended that GET form submission method should be used in less important web pages with no sensitive information only. Otherwise the developers should choose HTTP POST form submission method for improved web security.
3.Configure PHP.ini
Prevent the most common hacking attack by configuring your php.ini files. PHP.ini is used to register Cookie, Server, GET and POST and can be manipulated with the help of global variables. Different ways used to secure the php.ini files are here.

Hide configuration files and restrict access to them.
Scrutinize the uninitialized global variables by readjusting the error reporting to E All | E STRICT or E ALL.
Enable safe_mode in the configurations and open base-dir restrictions in server directory.
In php.ini, set allow_url_fopen to 0 for disabling it.

4. Secure Input Programming Data
Input validation security is the technique to defend against injection attacks and buffer overflow attacks. Correct syntax, length and time of programming data is used to scrutinize first use and numerically validate string content. The following script helps prevent direct input to the statements.
 If(!ctype_alnum($_GET[‘login’])) {echo ‘’Only A-Za-z0-9 are allowed.’’;}
If(!ctype_alpha($_GET[‘captcha’])) {echo ‘’Only A-Za-z are allowed.’’;}

 $If(!ctype_xdigit($_GET[‘color’])) {echo ‘’Only hexadecimal values are allowed.’’;}
Type Casting variables are also used in the Casting technique for PHP to secure input data programming from uncontrolled external sources.
5. Prevent Error Disclosure
Crashing, error or any relevant event may disclose the unnecessary information and as described earlier, it can be translated or tricked into sensitive information disclosure by the hackers. By default, PHP sends information regarding error so that the end user can develop an immediate and corrective response. In case of error or crashing, information like password, uninitialized variables and file path may also be revealed to malicious users. The logging settings and error functions can be fixed with the help of following code.
 Ini_set("display_errors"),FALSE;
Ini_set("log_errors"),TRUE; .


For restricted control panels, use unique names instead of obvious names. Also, disallow the directory listings with the help of following code.

For disabling PHP identification header

‘expose_php=off’



For disabling Apache identification header

‘ServerSignature=Off’


With the help of aforementioned codes, your PHP developed websites and web pages can be easily secured. Hacker attacks not only disclose the sensitive information but also cause damage to the system, reveal confidential files, result in loss of services and ruins the reputation of your business. Securer coding is essential to prevent these losses and grow as an exceptionally  professional web developer and engineer.
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11 Reasons Why PHP is Getting Popular Among Web Developers
Manmeet Anand — Fri, 10 Jul 2015 04:42:19 +0000

PHP is one of the most admired and popular server side scripting languages which are widely used for creating websites. With faster turn-around time, enhanced security and affordability, PHP has become preferred choice of the website developers. Due to plethora of benefits of this scripting language, many famous online businesses such as Facebook, Yahoo, Wikipedia, Flickr etc. are using this scripting language. In this article, I am explaining 11 advantages that make PHP popular among web developers.
Reason #1 — PHP boasts Simplicity
With PHP, coding is like writing an essay in English for a computer to read, except the essay is a piece of code that instructs it to create and run websites in the most efficient manner possible. Creating a code in PHP is simple, and though you’ll hear some developers complaining that this does not build the necessary coding habits that streamlines (read standardizes) coding, it allows the code to be highly personalized (and hence easier to protect).
Reason #2 — PHP Is FREE
PHP is an open source language: free, is easy to use, and has a stupendous amount of available documentation — making it the most cost-effective method of creating robust websites and taking over online real estate space without worrying about legal obligations and subscriptions fees.
Furthermore, PHP reduces barriers to entry for new website developers, allowing them to simply leverage their skills and talents for coding to get started.
Reason #3 — PHP Works Exceptionally Well With CMS
The latest (and recent) trend towards adaptive content has made CMS customization a crucial competitive need for businesses. Adaptive content is content personalized for the individual visitor to the website (using sign-in, or visitor history) to create a one-to-one experience for visitors. This is only possible if the website’s code can be customized and integrated with the CMS.
PHP makes websites amoebic, allowing the developers to transform them at their will. All PHP websites are fully customizable and can be transformed to meet the requirements of the customers with ease because Content Management Systems like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and others are primarily based on PHP. Hence, developing or integrating a robust custom-made CMS solution with your website is simple.
Reason #4 — PHP Accepts Platform Diversity
A code created in PHP can run on all the major platforms, allowing the developer to seamlessly integrate website across multiple platforms. This allows the business to cost-effectively leverage all existing infrastructure, leveraging platforms as diverse as Windows, Unix, and Linux, with the additional ability to interface their website with MySQL and Apace.
Reason #5 — PHP is Powerful Flexible and Scalable
Facebook, the largest and most powerful social media platform is running on PHP. Facebook has even created a PHP derivative language, named “Hack” to meet the emerging needs of the giant’s content management needs. This shows the level of flexibility, robustness, and scalability that is built into PHP. Compared to other languages, PHP’s biggest advantage is that the website’s code can be updated without requiring a server reboot!
Reason # 6 —Extensions and Add-Ons
PHP is one of the most scalable languages for website development. Being an opens source language, its family of online developers is continuously involved in developing extension to meet the emerging requirements of the businesses. This allows the developers and businesses to easily develop and add newer functionalities and features to their website with ease.
Reason #7 —Embed-ability
The latest trend in adaptive content has made responsive website and fluid grid systems even more pertinent to businesses. In this context, HTML5 is the unquestioned industry standard for developing highly dynamic and responsive websites. This is where PHP surfaces as the language that allows its code to be easily embedded into the HTML. Developers can easily convert existing static website code into a whole new dynamic one by adding their PHP code into HTML.
Reason # 8 —PHP is Backed By a Vast Community
This is a corollary of PHP being open source language. The language itself has a vast and growing community of developers and professional experts willing to support beginners and involved in continuously addressing the latest problems facing the web developing community. Furthermore the popularity of the language and hence availability of developers means that the developers are bound to offer highly competitive pricing.
Reason # 9 — PHP has a Huge Standard Library
What differentiates a good programming language from a great one is the extent of its standard library. Libraries play a crucial role in simplifying and speeding the data processing ability of the language.
Given that online visitors spend no-more than 8 seconds per webpage while they are on a surfing spree (in the earlier ‘research’ phase of the buying process), website’s loading time plays a crucial role in keeping them engaged on the website. PHP offers extensive support for HTTP fetching, regular expressions, URL parsing, and database drivers, to name but a few. It is true that the library is incoherent, but the community’s on it!
Reason # 10 PHP Delivers Exceptional Performance
PHP improves speed of development as much as it improves speed of execution. Operating on a conventional web stack, PHP leverages the Apache web server and allows applications to leverage MySQL databases — allowing developers to create bespoke, one-stop solutions for online presence.
Turnaround time is one of the most important factors that enhance performance of any website. PHP is known for its quick turnaround time. The large standard library, a diverse range of extensions, cross platform functionality, seamless integration with and customization of various CMS, and embed-ability allows experienced developers to offer exceptionally fast turnaround times at highly competitive rates. Further, any website that is developed using PHP has faster data processing features and that website is compatible on all operating system such as Windows, UNIX and so forth.
Reason #11 — PHP offers Diverse Frameworks
PHP is able to deliver exceptionally fast turnaround times because it has a sufficiently large family of PHP-frameworks. These range from the enterprise level Zend and Yii frameworks, all rounder Laravel and Sympfony, performance optimizers like Phalcon, and PHPixie for speedy application designs or Code igniter for more robust ones.
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Comprehensive Guide to PHP Multi-Factor Authentication
Manmeet Anand — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:28:45 +0000

Sometimes, we want that our website visitors can access only certain information or certain authorized users can only use the listed features on our site. What we will do in that case? We have to put some authentication factor for making sure that the information that we want to share with certain section of visitors on our site will remain inaccessible for the rest of the visitors.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), as it name suggests combines two or more self-regulating credentials; one is what the users have with them (security token), other is what the users know genuinely (password), and what the user identity is (biometric confirmation). In simple words, Multi-Factor Authentication’s aim is to make a strong and layered defense to make it complex or tedious for the unauthorized users to access certain information like network, computing device, or a physical location.
Before learning how multi-factor authentication can be implemented in website development with PHP, let’s shed some lights on the scenarios where it is needed to be executed.
The common scenarios where MFA is implemented are:

Logging into a website by entering requested One Time Password (OTP) that is sent by the website’s authentication server to the requester’s email address or phone number.
Scanning fingerprint, swiping in card, and answering a security question
Attaching a valid certificate with VPN client and then downloading and logging into the VPN prior to getting access to a network.
Generating one time password by attaching a hardware token to a computer this one time password for logging into a VPN client.

Multi-Factor Authentication in PHP Websites
You can use Biometrics for authenticating users on your website, but if you want to implement a more practical approach for executing MFA correctly on your PHP projects is to execute options from two alternatives ways: demanding password or a confirmation token that is sent to the mobile phone of user or you can ask for voice call also. In PHP projects, developers have the option to implement Twilio in their PHP projects as it provides a compatible API and infrastructure that they can apply in their websites to write interactive telephony apps without any difficulty.
Twilio comes with TwilML (Also known as Twilio Markup Language) that helps you to receive and make calls and messages. Let’s understand how we can use MFA in PHP projects.
Using Authentication factor in MFA
In Multi-Factor Authentication, each of the authentication factors is inclined towards boosting guarantee that an entity can use or access the information on a website only if he or she is having the permission to do so. However, there are three common categories of authentication factors that are used in Multi-factor authentication and they are:

Knowledge factor
Possession factor
Inherence factor



1.Knowledge factors
It consists of the information that users should offer in order to log in and access the information from the website. The elements that fall under this category are username, PINs, passwords, and replies to secret queries.
2.Possession factors
It consists of the information that the users have in their possession for accessing the permissible data such as one –time password, security token, employee ID information, a key fob or a phone’s SIM card.
3.Inherence factors
It consists of the biological traits that the users are confirmed in order to login to the website. In this category, the elements includes biometric methods for authentication such as fingerprint, retina scans, finger veins scans, voice recognition, facial recognition, earlobe geometry or hand geometry.
Technologies of Multi-Factor Authentication
After learning about the factors that are used with Multi-factor authentication in PHP websites, it is vital to explore the technologies of MFA and they are listed as follows:
Soft Tokens
 

Soft tokens are used as a crucial MFA technology that is commonly used for generating single-use PIN for multi-factor mobile authentication in Smartphones. It includes the software based security applications for generating the single-use login PINs.
Security Tokens
 

It consists of the small hardware equipment that the users carry for authenticating themselves for accessing the protected network. The equipment could be a smart card or it can be integrated as a USB drive of a key fob. The security tokens falls under possession factor of the multi-factor authentication method however; in case of websites built in PHP framework, software tokens are given more importance above the security tokens.
Mobile Authentication
 

In this MFA technology, several variations of multi-factor authentication are used like sending phone calls or SMS to the users, Smartphone One time password applications, smartcards and SIM cards with hoarded information.
Biometric Authentication Methods

Again when we talk about the biometrics technology used in MFA, it includes scanning of finger prints, finger veins, retina of eye, voice and face recognition, iris scans etc.
Authentication in PHP
When we talk about the proper execution of MFA in PHP, request based authentication is most commonly used method, which requires users to provide credentials for posting an authentication script. When it will be authenticated, the credentials can be used for storing and encrypting in a session on the server, in database operated sessions or in cookies of the client side.
In PHP, HTTP authentication using headers is also supported that triggers the web browser to open the user and password dialog. Basically, two types of authentication methods are available for implementing MFA in PHP:

Basic authentication: It is not so much secured because the credentials of the users can be transferred via plain text. Hence, it is advised to be used over a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connection.
Digest authentication: This method is used in PHP 5.1 that allows the encryption of credentials thus adding additional security layer to the authentication process. Apart from these two authentication methods, there are other classes of authentication also available for PHP that helps you to choose the one that fits your website’s requirements.

Concluding Words
Multi-factor authentication is not about adding layer of security to the confidentiality of your website, but it is the act of maintaining balance between the secrecy of the resources and information that we can to secure along with the amount of inconvenience that might be cause to our website’s visitors while going through this process.
If you understand the appropriate execution of MFA in your projects, you will definitely choose the authentication process in the best possible way for offering a more secured environment of data transmission between your site and your visitors. If you have any questions or suggestions related with the multi-factor authentication process, you can post your queries or comments below.
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Laravel Framework: Best PHP Framework for 2020
Manmeet Anand — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 23:35:06 +0000

When I was going to start working on PHP projects, I have so many frameworks in my mind, but ultimately I choose Laravel framework for moving ahead with my project and the reason that compelled me to do so was it helps me in developing my website in simple and clean code.
As a PHP developer, you might choose the PHP framework depending on its reliability, stability, extensions and support and Laravel has it all. Designed for the latest version of the PHP Framework, Laravel is regarded as an extremely interactive and easy syntax for developing web application development, which is designed especially to make the website development easier.
For a PHP developer, if there is a framework that can help them in writing better codes in less time, then it is definitely the Laravel framework, which includes all the fundamental development elements for offering developers a highly expressive interface to work with.
What makes Laravel lead over other PHP Frameworks?
Fairly easy to get started, Laravel is a framework that will definitely make the PHP developers fall in love with it as soon as they start working on it. Loaded with all necessary capabilities and features, Laravel has the ability to fold well with the browsers and search engines to offer comprehensive views.

Few benefits that help in making Laravel stood apart from other PHP framework are listed as follows:

The templates of Laravel frameworks are designed with a simple webpage layout with sections.
It is integrated with an authorization library.
Laravel comes incorporated with widgets such as JS and CSS with solid structures.
Supported with auto-complete feature, it has Object Oriented libraries, which is not found in other popular PHP frameworks like CodeIgniter.

New features of the Laravel framework
1. “Form Request” Feature- For Creating Contact Forms
Form Request is an advanced feature of Laravel 5 that serves as the base for processing and validating form data for creating simple contact forms with functional fields that includes Your Name, Your Email Address, and Your Message. Whenever Form requests are made, this feature automatically calls the validate method for generating the contact form as requested along with the mandatory fields.
Here is how the contact form will appear on your website:

2. Artisan Scheduler
A brand new feature of Laravel 5 framework, the Artisan scheduler is designed for simplifying the tasks that needs to be scheduled. For using this feature, set up one cron job that calls the code, “php artisan schedule:run” to run it every minute.
You can schedule the tasks once your cron is set up. It saves you from the problem of remembering cron scheduling and is very efficient to use.

An example showing a fictional task of clearing the cache every hour is shown here:


3. Route Filters
If you want to continue using the Route Façade in Laravel 5 framework, then use the latest Route Filters feature that you can use to copy the filter bindings from app/filters.php and keep them in the boot() method of app\Providers\RouteSserviceProvider.php.
Moreover, you have the liberty to add use of Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route in the  app\Providers\RouteServiceProvider.php. Besides, there is no need of moving over the Laravel 4.0 default filters like csrf and auth; they are present here as middleware and hence, you can efficiently edit the controllers or any routes and can also modify them for references to the new middleware.
4. New Eloquent Model 
The new Laravel 5.0 is blessed with the New Eloquent Model feature using which you can create a new app/models directory for keeping your Eloquent Models and then you can integrate this directory with the classmap directive of your composer.json file.
Moreover, there is no need of offering the remember method for caching queries but you can manually cache your queries using the Cach:: remember function.
What considerations to take while choosing Laravel?
When you are new to Laravel, this is the first question that must pop up in your mind as to what considerations you should look for while choosing Laravel among other popular PHP frameworks? Apart from this question, you might have several other questions related to knowing the authenticity and reliability of this PHP framework like:

Are big brands considering Laravel for their website development?
Are there any latest statistics representing Laravel performing better than other PHP frameworks?
Is it worth investing in Laravel and how secure is it to use?
Will Laravel continue its significance in the coming year as well?

Just like when we purchase a car or any other accessories and examine every details before making payment, similarly choosing the best PHP framework requires getting relevant answers of these queries mentioned above to know if it is worthwhile to invest in Laravel or not. Hence, I have collected some important facts about this framework to help the developers make up their mind before starting to work on this latest PHP framework.
What makes Laravel stood apart from other PHP frameworks- A brief comparison
This question does not mean to start the framework war, but it needs a genuine explanation to understand how using Laravel can benefit the developers. I will explain this same situation by taking an example of two laptop brands. Suppose that you are given to compare a Sony Vaio laptop and a Dell laptop.
Both are very popular brands of laptop and hundreds of engineers have put their best skills to design these laptops for the customers.
Both are tested and reliable brands and one cannot judge them simply on the set of features carried by both laptops because everyone has a different set of requirements for features.
Some features might be more relevant to me but not for you and vice versa. However, choosing frameworks is also the same case because all other popular PHP frameworks are also created to suit the needs of varied PHP developers, however, the choice for Laravel framework over other frameworks is simply due to the fact that it is not only a logical and easily coded framework, but it is also attaining popularity over the last year.
Therefore, the best way to compare between the different frameworks with Laravel is to try out to check which one of them suits your requirements perfectly.
Here is the chart that shows that rising trend of Laravel and other popular PHP frameworks in past few years:

From the above chart, it is clear that Laravel is steadily rising to the popularity that shows that opting for this latest PHP framework will definitely help the developers in creating websites within one of the most simple and clean coded environment.
Another important factor for making a clear comparison between the frameworks is the availability of learning resources for the developers.
Laravel on the one side is rapidly growing its community resources through packages, blogs, screencasts, books and more.
Now, when I have explained to you the rising trend of Laravel among other PHP frameworks, the other vital factor to focus is whether it is worth investing in this framework.
Is Laravel a worthy investment or not?
It is certainly worth investing in Laravel framework if you are not using any framework for developing PHP projects. The efficiency of the projects developed on Laravel increases three fold times and the bundle of features integrated with this framework makes the coding of website or applications much cleaner and easier for the developers as well.
The impressive features of Laravel like Eloquent ORM, Routing, Templating, and Sessions make the creation of applications constant and enjoyable from project to project.
After learning about the worthiness of Laravel framework, the next key step is to evaluate if this framework offers security as per the developers’ expectations.
Security of Laravel- Key Point of Concern
Here are few points that show the level of security offered by Laravel framework:
Laravel uses salted and hashed passwords, which means that the user’s password is not saved in database in plain text but it uses Bcrypt hashing algorithm for creating encrypted representation of a password.
Laravel offers an easier way for escaping the user input for avoiding user injection of