KoningKev's avatar

Whats next (best order)

Hi guys,

I am fairly new to laravel and programming as a whole. About 6 months ago i started my journey and did the basics on the site. From the php 8 crash course to laravel in 30 days.

Now i am finding myself a bit in deep waters. I want to further improve myself but am feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of lessons to do. I have tried some lessons, but some do rely on the fact that i have understanding of how vue works for example. I dove into the vue basics course, but it feels like a completely different beast from what i know now, is this the right path to take?

I was wondering if you guys have tips and tricks for a good learning path that makes sense? It has probably been asked before, but was not able to find a detailed answer.

How did you guys go about it? How did you learn the different aspects/frameworks/languages and learn how to implement these in existing applications? I feel a bit overwhelmed which causes some doubt if i can actually comprehend how it all works.

Looking forward to your experiences and responses.

Thanks in advance,

Kevin^^

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7 replies
LaryAI's avatar
LaryAI
AI
1 year ago
Level 58

Hi Kevin,

It's completely normal to feel overwhelmed when you're starting out, especially with a framework as robust as Laravel and the ecosystem around it. Here's a suggested learning path that might help you structure your learning journey:

  1. Solidify Your PHP Knowledge: Since Laravel is built on PHP, having a strong understanding of PHP fundamentals is crucial. Make sure you're comfortable with object-oriented programming, namespaces, and PHP's built-in functions.

  2. Deep Dive into Laravel: Since you've already done "Laravel in 30 Days," consider exploring more specific areas of Laravel:

    • Routing and Controllers: Understand how Laravel handles HTTP requests.
    • Eloquent ORM: Dive deeper into Eloquent to manage database interactions.
    • Blade Templating: Learn how to effectively use Blade for your views.
    • Middleware and Service Providers: Understand how to use middleware for request filtering and service providers for bootstrapping.

  3. Database Management: Learn about database migrations, seeders, and factories in Laravel. This will help you manage your database schema and test data efficiently.

  4. Testing: Start writing tests for your Laravel applications. PHPUnit and Laravel's built-in testing tools are great for this.

  5. APIs and JSON: Learn how to build RESTful APIs with Laravel. This is crucial if you plan to work with front-end frameworks like Vue.js.

  6. Front-end Basics: Before diving into Vue.js, ensure you have a good grasp of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These are the building blocks of any front-end framework.

  7. Vue.js Basics: Once you're comfortable with JavaScript, start with the basics of Vue.js:

    • Components: Learn how to create and use Vue components.
    • Directives: Understand how to use Vue's directives for dynamic behavior.
    • State Management: Get familiar with Vuex for managing state in larger applications.

  8. Integrating Vue with Laravel: Once you have a basic understanding of Vue.js, learn how to integrate it with Laravel. This includes setting up Laravel Mix for asset compilation and using Vue components within your Laravel views.

  9. Build Projects: Apply what you've learned by building small projects. This could be a simple blog, a to-do list app, or a small e-commerce site. Building projects will help solidify your understanding and give you practical experience.

  10. Community and Resources: Engage with the Laravel community. Forums, Laracasts, and GitHub are great places to ask questions and learn from others.

Remember, learning to program is a marathon, not a sprint. Take your time, and don't hesitate to revisit topics as needed. Good luck on your journey!

Best, [Your Name]

JussiMannisto's avatar

Lessons are great and all, but the only way to really learn is to write apps. Not the tutorial apps from courses, but your own. So if I were you, I'd start a real project. It doesn't have to be fancy or original, just something you'd enjoy working on.

IMO, you don't need to learn Vue right away. You can start with Blade templates and mix in some javascript when needed. Vue and React are great for making fast and interactive UIs, but they also have a learning curve. There's already plenty to learn on the back-end, so taking in a whole new front-end framework might be too much at once.

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Mega_Aleksandar's avatar

As @tray2 pointed out, heading down the rabbit hole is the way to go, BUT do not be overwhelmed by the sheer knowledge base and frameworks, languages. You should be playing around with the basic concepts first.

For me, this community, the lessons here, made me 10x the programmer I was just a year ago. But, as Jeffrey would say, baby steps, literally.

What helped me a lot was having an idea or a small project - I took upon myself to create a boring counter (+, -, reset) in plain php with some small javascript, then making it with blade and alpine, then making it strictly in vue, strictly in react etc... after you dig deeper (with bugs, errors, failures) into different languages and frameworks, you will find yourself trying to eat up the knowledge.

But take your time, do not burnout.

Best regards and happy coding.

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Tray2's avatar

@Mega_Aleksandar You are correct, watching thousands of videos and not writing a single line of code, is a huge waste of time. I suggest watching a few videos, play around with the concept, and then continue.

It helps alot if you then have an idea of a project to build. There are however good project based series here, for example the Forum one, or maybe the simpler code breaker one for starters.

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