Matt & Taylor’s Preferred Tech Stacks for New Laravel Apps
Nov 14, 2023
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The podcast discusses preferred tech stacks for new Laravel apps, text editors and fonts for coding, color schemes and packages, third-party services in Laravel tech stack, and setting up local environments and creating cedars.
Taylor uses Laravel's Breeze starter kit for new projects and chooses between LiveWire and Inertia based on JavaScript needs or server-side rendering.
Taylor emphasizes the use of factories and cedars to seed databases and test edge cases, providing realistic data for robust development and testing.
Deep dives
Setting up a new project
When starting a new project, Taylor typically uses Laravel's Breeze starter kit. He may choose between LiveWire or Inertia depending on whether he needs complex JavaScript functionality or server-side rendering. The setup process is documented in the project's README file.
Database and hosting
Taylor uses DB Engine for MySQL and Redis. For hosting, he prefers Laravel Vapor over Forge because of its automatic scaling and easier management of operating system updates, certificate renewals, and database backups. Horizon is not necessary on Vapor, but he still uses Telescope for local development.
Cedars and Factories
Taylor writes cedars and factories to seed the database with realistic data. He believes in using factories to test edge cases and happy path tests with seed data. Cedars help provide a robust dataset for testing and development purposes.
Testing Approach
Taylor does not always follow strict TDD practices. He usually writes code first and then writes tests afterwards, often using seed data to test basic scenarios and factories to test edge cases. Optionally, he may use cedars specifically designed for testing purposes.
In this jam-packed episode, we dive deep into the world of app development, exploring the essential choices and tools that shape a successful project from start to finish. Join us as we share our preferred tech stacks for launching a brand new app, discuss the intricacies of hosting and deploying Laravel applications, and explore the myriad of options available.
Whether you're a seasoned developer or just embarking on your coding journey, consider this episode your roadmap to cultivating a robust and efficient app development process.