I have been programming since the dbase 3 days. Before there was a Windows operating system.
Long story short, eventually I did Java Enterprise jsp servlet ejb at a medium trucking company for quite a few years.
Semi retired now. A non-profit needed some PHP done that's when I first learned PHP.
First framework was simple MVC. Did some caking, now laravel.
However I don't believe in using the latest thing, as I have stated before most large Enterprise and state governments lag back a year for new stuff to make sure all is well and no major bugs.
Though I use eloquent and query Builder some, for more complex stuff I still write regular SQL With PDO Bindings.
The one thing I like about laravel, Taylor made it very flexible to use.
I even use my own authentication system. But that's just me.
And you said
Web Development became too complex
Still the mightiest thing in programming today as it was 20 even 30 years ago is the mighty if statement structure.
And remember Java technology Has longer backwards compatibility. The bare basics of servlet technology is the same.
You need to read https://laracasts.com/discuss/channels/laravel/laravel-is-a-giant-waste-of-time