Laravel is an open-source and the most popular PHP framework used by web artisans across the globe. Many web applications and eCommerce platforms are built using Laravel easily and quickly. No wonder why Laravel developers are in high demand! There are many reasons why Laravel if popular than PHP. That’s why people hire Laravel developers. But, hiring Laravel developers isn’t as simple as it seems.
Owing to its rising popularity, many people have got themselves trained in Laravel development but there have been many cases of mediocrity and shoddy development that would just increase pain in the neck by leaving your website in a wretched state. So, don’t ever come to a conclusion about the developer’s capabilities and feel that he/she is the right person for your project as they might put you in a fix in the end.
You need to curate the process of hiring a Laravel developer by looking for certain attributes and asking the right questions. Jump in to know further details.
Laravel Developer’s Portfolio
Suppose you choose two Laravel developers and give them the exact task to complete. But when you test the functionality, they would definitely be different. The differentiating factors may vary. One may finish the task faster than the other. The code quality could be better in one case. What matters here is their experience, expertise, capabilities, and how well they communicate. Some developers may not gel with your organization’s culture.
1. Experience - Have a glimpse of their past projects. You can verify by asking for their portfolio, a few questions about their previous work, inquire if they have any relevant experience related to your project, and more. You may come to a fair estimate of their capabilities and also see how prompt and good they are at communicating with you. Niche developers are a rare breed. But they are the ones who would be having a deeper understanding than the multi-niche developers. But the advantage with multi-niche programmers is that they bring fresh perspectives to the project.
2. Communication Skills - It is not possible to work in isolation even for remote developers. They need to engage in meaningful conversations and communicate them with the team. You can come to an understanding based on the preliminary communication. You need team players who collaborate effectively with the other members. Proactive developers would make the onboarding for the new developers easier with the need of the hour.
Framework Knowledge
1. PHP - Laravel is a PHP framework and hence your candidate should possess adequate knowledge of PHP. He/she should be able to demonstrate a fair knowledge and understanding of the PHP semantics and syntax. You can ask a few PHP-related queries to test the knowledge of the developer. Laravel uses MVC architecture but still, the functions are written and executed in PHP. So, quiz the developers on their expertise in PHP. You can ask about their projects on PHP and find out his total experience. Not all can master PHP so you can ask for samples. A solid background will help you lay a strong base for your project.
2. Latest Development Trends - You don’t need obsolete knowledge when you hire Laravel Developers. They have to be updated with the latest development trends in the framework. Ask questions about the recently rolled-out updates. This shows their seriousness to scale in this language. You need to have someone who stays on top of any latest trends in the framework as it can ease a lot of coding work.
3. Coding Standards – You need to find out if they adhere to the latest web standards and follow the best practices to create standard solutions that are secure, scalable, and of high performance. Find out how zealous are they to discover new business opportunities and growth elements. Also, look if they have the expertise to build both simple and complex business applications with absolutely the best coding standards.
4. Other Technical Capabilities - You can also ask about his technical abilities although you just need PHP, having knowledge of more than one programming language is an added bonus. It shows his forte is wide and diverse. He would also be able to guide you better as they might have seen some challenges working on other technologies. His perspective towards issues and challenges will be of great use to handle any surprises that come along.
Find out how they are handling the security aspects of the customers. For a frontend developer, the speed of the website is of a higher concern but for Laravel PHP developers, security shouldn’t be ignored.
Additional Laravel Development Services
Find out what project development approach they are most comfortable with – agile, waterfall, or any other. You can also take your business to the next level if your Laravel developer offers an assortment of services like development, support, and also adept at handling upgrades. It makes a major difference if you hire a Laravel expert who offers end-to-end web development services that include all aforementioned services.
All-inclusive Services
Find out if they have expertise with developing payment gateways, installation of custom modules, extensions, customizations that cater to your business requirements? Find out how they can give your business the necessary thrust and edge over others. Do they use different tools and techniques to provide user-friendly and flawless designs? Ask about their experience in offering custom web apps.
Laravel Maintenance Services
Quite often, this aspect is ignored by businesses but it is usually hard to handle maintenance and support services without the help of Laravel experts. You can also explore post-development sales support and maintenance services. Ask if the Laravel programmers also provide any support services and how they handle data security. Find out how much they will charge for the completion of the project. Probe if there are any hidden charges. You need to make sure that the maintenance costs come within your budget.
We are here to present you with a few questions based on the developer’s expertise that may help you to assess the knowledge and find the right candidate for your project.
Rudimentary Questions to ask before Hiring Laravel Experts
1. What is Laravel?
The simplest question to ask any beginner. Laravel is a PHP framework that is open-source. It uses the MVC architecture like the Symfony framework. One can build any modern web application as it has an impressive set of features. With its elegant syntax, it makes web development much simpler.
2. Why is Laravel better than other PHP frameworks?
Ever since it was introduced in 2011, Laravel has been gaining ground constantly. And it even stood at the forefront when compared with the other frameworks like Symfony, CakePHP, Yii, CodeIgniter, etc.
Reasons being
- It comes with a shorter learning curve especially if you have sufficient knowledge of PHP basics.
- It is based on MVC architecture that comes with easy maintenance
- Better documentation and support is available
- Security is stronger with in-built features
- Faster time-to-market due to its ease with which one can build web applications
- Efficient database migration and management
- Artisan CLI helps to handle repetitive and tedious tasks
3. What are the latest features of Laravel?
Laravel framework used to release major updates twice a year, once in March and in September. The last release being in September 2020. The features of the latest version are migration squashing, models directory, route caching, Jetstream, job batching, model factory classes, etc. However, Laravel Blog confirmed this January that they will release major updates every year rather than every six months.
4. Name a few official Laravel packages provided by Laravel?
Telescope, Passport, Sanctum, Envoy, Cashier, Dusk, Horizon, etc.
5. What is PHP artisan?
PHP artisan is a Laravel command that displays all the available artisan commands.
6. What is a composer?
It is a dependency management tool used in PHP used to organize the code. It is similar to Node.js package manager and Laravel requires the composer to function properly.
7. What are events and listeners?
Events are meant to alert you about the actions performed in your web application. Listeners as the name says, are the instances of events that happen. Listeners must be connected to events.
8. What are the Laravel packages that are used to build an ecommerce store?
Bagisto and Aimeos are two of the Laravel packages used for building an ecommerce store.
9. How does middleware work in Laravel?
Middleware serves as a link between a request and its response. It provides the medium for authentication of the HTTP requests. You can create a new middle using the artisan command make:middleware.
10. What is DB migration in Laravel?
We have make:migration artisan in Laravel for database migration. Migrations are meant to handle version control that involves managing the database structure. It helps in better project collaboration. It has an “up” function for adding new elements and a “down” function to undo the previous operation.
Conclusion
One wrong decision can lead to a huge loss of time, money, efforts, and overall resources. It is tiresome to find the right one with experience and proficiency from the vast pool of Laravel programmers. Keep this checklist handy when you next need to hire a Laravel developer. Skynet Technologies has experienced Laravel developers who offer the finest services to clients across the globe.
Skynet Technologies specialized Laravel Development Company offering end-to-end Laravel development services starting from Laravel customization, Restful application, Migration, Integration, Extension Development, Laravel Ecommerce Development, Template design to maintenance and support. Hire Laravel Programmer or Team to create a high-end Laravel custom web application.
