Laravel is a name that resonates throughout the PHP community. With its elegant syntax, robust ecosystem, and developer-friendly tools, Laravel has become the go-to framework for modern web development. Laravel 12, released on February 24, 2025, continues this tradition, streamlining workflows and boosting performance with support for the latest PHP advancements.

This guide is designed to be the definitive resource for both beginners and experienced developers. From the basics of MVC to advanced features like event broadcasting, queues, and domain-driven design, you'll learn everything you need to build professional, scalable Laravel applications.

Laravel 12 Minimum Requirements & Support Policy

Released: February 24, 2025
Minimum PHP Version: 8.2 (Supports PHP 8.2–8.4)
Required PHP extensions: Ctype, Mbstring, OpenSSL, PDO, XML, Fileinfo, Tokenizer, BCMath, JSON
Support timeline:
- Bug fixes until August 13, 2026
- Security fixes until February 24, 2027

Note: BCMath and JSON extensions are mandatory for certain Laravel components like encryption and session handling.

Why PHP 8.2 Is Required

Laravel 12 harnesses new PHP 8.2 features:

Readonly classes: Enforce immutability on class properties.
Intersection & Union Types (DNF types): Increase type safety for method parameters and return types.
null, false, and true as explicit types: Improves method signature clarity.
Deprecation of dynamic properties: Encourages explicit property declarations.
Performance and security improvements: Core enhancements in PHP 8.2 reduce runtime overhead and harden security mechanisms.

These features help Laravel maintain type safety, clarity, and performance while aligning with modern PHP development practices.

Installing & Upgrading to Laravel 12

New Project Installation

Ensure your system is running PHP 8.2+ and has Composer installed:

composer create-project laravel/laravel:^12.0 my-app

Or:

composer global require laravel/installer
laravel new my-app

For macOS/Windows, Laravel Herd or XAMPP now include PHP 8.2+ pre-configured environments.

Upgrading from Laravel 11

Update composer.json:

"laravel/framework": "^12.0",
"phpunit/phpunit": "^11.0",
"pestphp/pest": "^3.0"

Ensure PHP ≥ 8.2.
Run:
```
composer update
```
Upgrade Carbon Library: Laravel 12 uses Carbon 3 for date and time manipulation. Replace deprecated methods accordingly.
Review deprecated Laravel APIs in the upgrade guide.
Run migrations and validate your application:
```
php artisan migrate
php artisan test
```

Important: Always back up your project and database before upgrading.

Core Concepts (Beginner to Intermediate)

Directory Structure

Understanding Laravel's directory structure is essential:

app/ – Models, controllers, policies, commands, form requests.
bootstrap/ – App bootstrap files, including cache setup.
config/ – Configuration files for all services and features.
database/ – Migrations, factories, seeders.
public/ – Entry point of web requests (index.php).
resources/ – Views, assets (CSS/JS), language files.
routes/ – Web, API, console, and channel routes.
storage/ – Logs, cache, compiled views, file uploads.
vendor/ – Composer-managed dependencies.

MVC & Routing Basics

Laravel follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern:

Routes are defined in routes/web.php or routes/api.php.

Example:

Route::get('/home', [HomeController::class, 'index'])->name('home');

Controllers

Generate controllers using Artisan:

php artisan make:controller HomeController

Controllers handle request logic and return views or JSON responses.

Request Lifecycle

Laravel's lifecycle starts from an HTTP request hitting public/index.php, routing through middleware, controller, services, and then rendering a response.

Blade Templating

Blade is Laravel’s templating engine:

Layouts: Define master layouts with @yield and @section.
Components: Reusable UI pieces like alerts or modals.

Example:

@extends('layouts.app')

@section('content')
  <h1>Welcome, {{ $user->name }}</h1>
  <x-alert type="success" message="Operation successful" />
@endsection

Models & Migrations

Create a model with migration:

php artisan make:model Post -m

Run migrations:

php artisan migrate

Environment Configuration

Database settings reside in .env:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=your_db
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=secret

Eloquent ORM

Laravel’s ORM simplifies database operations:

$post = Post::create(['title' => 'New Post']);
$posts = Post::where('published', true)->get();

Relationships

One to Many: $user->posts()
Many to Many: $user->roles()
Polymorphic: morphMany(), useful for comments or likes.

Middleware & Validation

Middleware

Generate custom middleware:

php artisan make:middleware CheckAge

Validation

Request validation example:

$request->validate([
  'title' => 'required|max:255',
  'email' => 'required|email',
]);

Or using Form Requests:

php artisan make:request StorePostRequest

Authentication, Authorization & Starter Kits

Starter Kits

As of Laravel 12:

Laravel Breeze is officially deprecated in favor of new starter kits supporting React, Vue, and Livewire with Flux UI.
WorkOS AuthKit adds support for Passkeys and SSO.

Installation Example:

composer require laravel/jetstream
php artisan jetstream:install livewire
npm install && npm run dev
php artisan migrate

Note: Jetstream replaces Breeze for Laravel 12’s official kits.

Authorization

Gates: For single permission checks.
Policies: Attach permission logic to models.
Example policy registration in AuthServiceProvider.

Advanced Features

API Development

Authentication: Laravel Sanctum or Passport.
Define API routes in routes/api.php.
Use API Resources for structured JSON:
```
return new PostResource($post);
```

Queues & Jobs

Queue configuration in config/queue.php.

Create a job:

php artisan make:job SendEmailJob
SendEmailJob::dispatch($user);
php artisan queue:work

Batching & Prioritization

Laravel 12 expands queue functionality with:

Batch processing (Bus::batch()).
Queue prioritization by connection.

Event Broadcasting

Configure Pusher or Laravel WebSockets.
Useful for real-time apps:
```
broadcast(new EventName($data));
```

Livewire & Inertia.js

Livewire 3 introduces Flux UI components.
Inertia.js integrates Vue/React with Laravel, acting as a full SPA framework without building an API backend separately.

Testing & Debugging

PHPUnit 11 and Pest 3 support.
Run tests:
```
php artisan test
```
Debugging Tools: Laravel Debugbar, Telescope for monitoring requests, queries, and exceptions.

New Laravel 12 Enhancements

Str::of(...)->encrypt() and decrypt() helpers.
Enhanced Str::is() with multi-line regex.
Improved Service Providers with contextual dependency injection.
Updated Blade directives and IDE auto-completion support.
Fluent query builder enhancements.
Strengthened security: MFA, password hashing, CSRF protection.
Expanded queue management.
Docker & CI/CD: First-class support via Sail and Laravel Forge.
Artisan Enhancements: Interactive prompts, better command scheduling.

Deployment Best Practices

Server Requirements:
- PHP 8.2+
- Required extensions installed.
- Node.js & npm/yarn (for frontend assets).

Deployment Steps:

Set correct folder permissions:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache

Cache optimization:

php artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache

Run migrations:
```
php artisan migrate --force
```
Set up queue workers and cron jobs.
Enable SSL and monitoring tools.

Final Thoughts

Laravel 12 is a refined, performance-oriented framework that builds on the strengths of its predecessors. With modern PHP support, enhanced developer experience, and powerful features, it's ideal for both foundational learning and advanced applications.

Follow the official documentation and stay engaged with community updates. Use this guide as your central reference—study, experiment, build real projects, and contribute. Laravel is more than a framework; it’s a community and a journey.

Key Takeaways

Laravel 12 demands PHP 8.2+ and essential extensions.
Released on February 24, 2025 with solid long-term support.
New official starter kits now favor Jetstream and WorkOS AuthKit.
Modern PHP features improve type safety, performance, and code clarity.
Core strengths remain: Eloquent, queues, events, middleware, Blade.
DevOps-ready with tools for Docker, CI/CD, and infrastructure automation.
Artisan CLI is now more interactive and developer-friendly.

Laravel 12 Beginner to Advanced: Complete Guide

Introduction

Laravel 12 Minimum Requirements & Support Policy