Absolutely, your familiarity with Sage and the Roots ecosystem puts you at a great advantage transitioning into Laravel, since both use Blade, Composer, MVC-inspired conventions, and modern PHP practices.
Recommended Laracasts Course Progression:
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Laravel From Scratch (Most Current Version)
- Why? Even if Sage feels familiar, Laravel’s From Scratch course covers the fundamentals, routing, controllers, Eloquent (ORM), service providers, and more—all within the structure of a full-stack framework.
- Laravel 10 From Scratch
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Eloquent: Relationships
- Why? Eloquent’s ORM is much deeper and more powerful than WordPress’ DB abstraction. This course ensures you’re comfortable working with databases the “Laravel way.”
- Eloquent: Relationships
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Laravel Beyond CRUD
- Why? As a Sage user, you’re likely using MVC and separation of concerns. This series will level up your app structure and guide you into advanced architectural patterns common in larger Laravel applications.
- Laravel Beyond CRUD
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Testing Laravel
- Why? Testing is first-class in Laravel, unlike in most WordPress workflows. This series will get you comfortable with PHPUnit and feature tests.
- Testing Laravel
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Laravel Forge / Envoyer (Optional)
- Why? If deployment and server management are new to you outside of WP hosting, these tools (and the associated mini-series) will be valuable.
- Laravel Forge Series
Helpful Bonus Content:
- Blade Components: Blade Components
- Laravel Mix: If you’re used to assets in Sage, Laravel Mix is a similar build pipeline.
Personal Tips:
- Don’t skip “From Scratch”—even experienced devs pick up best practices there.
- Since you understand Composer and Blade, you can skim basic PHP/Composer videos.
- Build something! Try recreating a common WordPress plugin as a mini Laravel app.
Summary Example Progression
1. Laravel 10 From Scratch
2. Eloquent: Relationships
3. Laravel Beyond CRUD
4. Testing Laravel
5. Explore Forge/Envoyer if interested in deployment
With your Sage background, you’ll likely pick up Laravel quickly. Enjoy the journey!