If your Laravel application is working flawlessly, that’s pretty great news! However, we have to break this news to you that it still needs assistance to improve the overall performance. Now you might think, why is that needed; don’t worry; we are here to talk exactly about that.
Laravel is one of the most popular open source PHP frameworks known for its unmatched security features and simple yet sophisticated coding structure. In fact, Laravel remains the most widely used and favored PHP framework that powers over a million websites today. Since it has such a reputation and popularity, it’s important to keep up with it. Thus, it’s a must to take care of Laravel performance optimization from time to time.
With the right performance optimization, the Laravel app will overcome any performance laybacks and run smoothly around the clock. We have gathered some solid Laravel performance optimization tips and tricks from the industry’s expert Laravel developers and bundled them in this blog for you. So, stay with us and read the interesting insights we have up our sleeves.
Why does website speed matter?
First impressions of any business matter a lot, and website speed is the first impression of your website for the visitors. Visitors often leave a website if it takes way too long to load. We are sure you would not want that. The website speed also has a direct impact on the user experience and conversion rates of the website.
Moreover, website speed also plays a role in SEO ranking on search engines. If multiple sites offer the same information or services as yours, then faster web pages will appear first. All in all, to ensure the site or app performs well and runs smoothly, investing in effective performance optimization solutions is a must.
What are the Laravel performance optimization tips and tricks?
Keeping in mind the importance of fast speed, we will focus on some of the tips and tricks to follow for performance optimization ahead. So, let us begin without any further ado.
Route caching
We cannot emphasize how amazing of a feature route caching is. Especially for apps with a large number of configurations and routes across the codes, route caching is quite useful. It’s a group of routes packed in a single command that helps in reducing the tedious task of manually charting the routes. Consequently, the website will load faster than usual.
Route caching allows Laravel to retrieve routes from the pre-compiled routes rather than starting from ground zero for the new user.
Use this command for cache routing-
PHP artisan route: cache
Keep in mind to run the cache command every time after making structural changes to your website.
Optimizing the composer
Laravel has a separate tool called composer, which is responsible for managing different dependencies. When you install the, compose, it, by default, loads dev dependencies on your system. Consequently, these dependencies are useful for developing a website. However, once the site is fully operational, these dependencies become more of a problem than a help.
Find below the command that allows the composer to create a directory for optimizing the autoloader and boosting the performance.
composer install –prefer-dist –no-dev -o
Reducing autoloaded services
It’s Laravel’s ultimate goal to make the development process easier for the developers. When you launch Laravel, it auto-loads a large volume of service providers listed in the config/app.php to help you start the project instantly. However, the truth is that you will not need to use all these services for building a Laravel app.
In such scenario, you can disable the services that are not relevant to your needs. When you reduce these services, the speed of your Laravel website is bound to increase. Lastly, just make sure you don’t remove any important service by mistake. It’s better to double-check everything before you proceed.
Reducing the package usage
Being an open source platform with solid community support, new packages keep releasing in the existing packages of Laravel. These packages are free to use, and Laravel installs them along with the dependencies.
However, one has to take care of a few things before adding new packages to any app. All the packages are not designed for the same purpose, and when you add packages with lots of dependencies, the app’s size increases, and consequently, the performance suffers. Hence, it’s always a good idea to review the dependencies closely before adding any new Packages.
Upgrading to the latest version of PHP
Just like any other software or platform, it’s best to update your Laravel version to the most recent release. The key reason behind using an up-to-date version is to maintain the best security. Every new Laravel version comes with security patches and bug fixes. If you continue using the older versions, your system might not perform at its best.
Thus, the bottom line is to boost efficiency, update your Laravel app to the current PHP release and get outstanding performance improvements without any loopholes.
Leverage JIT compiler
PHP is a server-side language that requires interpreters to translate a code into bytecode. This is a tedious and time-consuming process. Moreover, it consumes a lot of resources as well. This is the reason programmers switch to scripting languages like Zend engine to execute C subroutines that must be repeated every time an app is executed. As a result of this, the site slows down.
For improved efficiency, devs use the JIT(just-in-time) compiler to repeat that procedure just once. The preferred JIT compiler for Laravel is HHVM, which was developed and is extensively used by Facebook. There are dozens of other sites like Etsy and Wikipedia that use the JIT compiler as well.
Compress images
Images play an integral role in a website’s design. They are essential for enhancing the user experience and boosting search rankings. Heavy and big-sized images decelerate a site’s loading speed. Consequently, if the website is slow, there’s a high chance of losing a lot of visitors.
In this case, image compression is quite useful as it minimizes the size of original images without compromising the quality of the images. With the image compression feature, the Laravel framework offers neat options for compressing photos and maintaining the overall efficiency of the Laravel website and app.
Limit included libraries
Laravel gives freedom to add as many libraries as you want. Although this is a great feature, it has its downside as well. Adding loads of libraries puts pressure on the application’s performance and apparently affects the entire user experience.
To avoid adding unnecessary libraries, it’s crucial to scan the libraries’ data currently in use within the code. One can find these libraries in the config/app.php file. While reviewing these libraries, you can remove those libraries that are not very useful to you.
Wrapping up
Laravel is one of the fastest growing PHP frameworks today, and thus, it becomes more than important to keep it optimized for enhanced performance. Maintaining the performance is crucial for establishing a strong online presence. It is also a must for improving the overall user experience of the app.
The tips mentioned above could come in handy while Laravel performance optimization. If you are a Laravel developer, using these tips and methods will bring significant performance improvements and help your app run smoothly in the long run.
If you are a skeptical about using these performance optimization tips on your own, you can always hire Laravel developers to help you out through the process. You can rely on industry experts and keep your app performance optimized from head to toe.
