Rohit Dhiman

Posted on Feb 3

PHP Basics Every Laravel Beginner Should Know

#laravel #php #webdev #programming

If you're starting your Laravel journey, there’s one thing you should know upfront:

👉 The better your PHP fundamentals, the easier Laravel becomes.

Many beginners jump straight into routes, controllers, and Eloquent…
but struggle because the core PHP concepts remain unclear.

So in this article, let’s quickly walk through the must-know PHP basics that will make Laravel feel smooth and intuitive.

1. Variables & Data Types

Laravel code is full of variables, controllers, Blade templates, models, and helpers all rely on them.

In PHP, variables always start with $:

$name = "Rohit";    // string
$age = 25;          // integer
$isAdmin = true;    // boolean

Common data types you’ll see in Laravel:

Strings
Integers
Boolean
Arrays
Objects
Null

If you understand these, reading Laravel code becomes a lot easier.

2. Arrays (Super Important in Laravel)

Laravel heavily uses arrays, config files, validation rules, request data, responses, casts, events… everywhere.

Indexed array

$frameworks = ["PHP", "Laravel", "Symfony"];

Associative array

$user = [
    "name" => "Rohit",
    "role" => "Developer"
];

Why it matters in Laravel

Request data comes as arrays
Config values are stored in arrays
Validation rules are arrays
Response JSON is often built using arrays

If you’re comfortable with arrays, Laravel clicks faster.

3. Functions

Functions are the building blocks of reusable logic.

function greet($name) {
    return "Hello, $name!";
}

Laravel itself uses tons of helper functions:

route()
view()
config()
storage_path()
response()

Once you understand regular PHP functions, Laravel’s helpers feel intuitive.

4. Conditionals & Loops

Every Laravel controller, middleware, Blade file, and even models use conditional logic.

Example

if ($age >= 18) {
    echo "Adult";
} else {
    echo "Minor";
}

Loops

foreach ($users as $user) {
    echo $user->name;
}

Where Laravel uses them

Blade: @if, @foreach
Policies & Gates
Controllers
Authorization & validation

Understanding conditionals makes Laravel’s behavior predictable.

5. Object-Oriented PHP (The Backbone of Laravel)

Laravel is a fully OOP framework.
Everything is a class: controllers, models, requests, events, jobs, middleware, notifications.

Here’s a simple class:

class User {
    public $name;

    public function __construct($name) {
        $this->name = $name;
    }

    public function greet() {
        return "Hello, " . $this->name;
    }
}

If you understand:

✔ Classes
✔ Objects
✔ Methods
✔ Constructors
✔ Inheritance

…you’ll understand 80% of Laravel’s structure.

6. Namespaces & Autoloading

Laravel uses namespaces to organize files and avoid conflicts.

Example:

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

class UserController {
    // ...
}

Thanks to Composer’s PSR-4 autoloading, Laravel knows where your classes live.

If namespaces confuse you, many Laravel errors will too so treat this as a must-learn.

7. Collections (Bonus for Beginners)

Laravel’s Collection class is like arrays on steroids.

Basic PHP version:

$numbers = [1, 2, 3];

$mapped = array_map(fn($n) => $n * 2, $numbers);

Laravel version:

collect([1,2,3])
    ->map(fn($n) => $n * 2)
    ->filter(fn($n) => $n > 3);

Collections make data manipulation elegant and readable.

Conclusion

Laravel is powerful, elegant, and beginner-friendly… but only when your PHP fundamentals are strong.

By mastering:

Variables
Arrays
Functions
Conditionals
Loops
OOP
Namespaces

…you’ll understand Laravel’s architecture much faster and write cleaner code.

If you’re starting your Laravel journey, make today the day you strengthen your PHP basics.

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