What’s new in Laravel 9?

Laravel 9, released on February 8, 2022, introduced several new features, improvements, and refinements aimed at enhancing developer productivity and application performance. Here's an overview of what's new in Laravel 9:

1. Minimum Requirements

PHP 8.0+: Laravel 9 requires PHP 8.0 or higher, leveraging the latest features and performance improvements of the language.
Symfony 6.x: The framework uses Symfony 6 components, providing enhanced performance and additional capabilities.

2. Improved Route Listing

Laravel 9 introduces a new route:list output format, making it easier to view route details like methods, URIs, names, and middleware.

php artisan route:list

The table now includes colors and highlights for better readability.

3. Anonymous Stub Migrations

By default, migrations now use anonymous classes, preventing migration name collisions.

Before:

class CreateUsersTable extends Migration
{
    // ...
}

Now:

return new class extends Migration {
    // ...
};

4. New Query Builder Interface

The new type-safe query builder interface improves static analysis and code completion in IDEs, making it easier to catch errors during development.

5. Laravel Breeze API

Laravel Breeze, the lightweight authentication scaffolding, now includes an API mode. This addition simplifies the creation of APIs with authentication.

6. Full-Text Search Support

Laravel 9 adds support for MySQL and PostgreSQL full-text indexing and searching capabilities. Developers can now perform advanced search queries using whereFullText() and orWhereFullText().

7. Improved Eloquent Accessors and Mutators

Laravel 9 provides a cleaner way to define Eloquent accessors and mutators using PHP 8's attribute method.

Example:

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Casts\Attribute;

protected function fullName(): Attribute
{
    return Attribute::make(
        get: fn ($value, $attributes) => "{$attributes['first_name']} {$attributes['last_name']}",
    );
}

8. Bootstrap 5 Pagination Views

The pagination views now use Bootstrap 5 by default, aligning with modern UI standards.

9. Flysystem 3.x Integration

Laravel 9 integrates Flysystem 3.x, which improves file storage capabilities, including better handling of complex file systems and customizable storage adapters.

10. New `--model` Option for Artisan Commands

Laravel 9 enhances make:controller and make:resource Artisan commands by allowing you to generate a model alongside the controller.

Example:

php artisan make:controller PostController --model=Post

11. Improved Testing Features

Laravel 9 provides new test methods and enhancements:

assertDatabaseCount(): Asserts the number of records in a database table.
assertModelExists() and assertModelMissing(): Asserts the existence or non-existence of a model in the database.

12. Symfony Mailer

Laravel 9 replaces SwiftMailer with Symfony Mailer, providing better email handling with extended capabilities.

13. Optional Bootstrap Ignition

Ignition, the Laravel error page handler, now allows optional configuration to control error reporting behavior.

14. Support for PHP 8 Features

Laravel 9 leverages PHP 8 features, such as attributes, union types, and match expressions, for cleaner and more expressive code.

Why Upgrade to Laravel 9?

Laravel 9 focuses on developer convenience, modern PHP standards, and better performance, making it a compelling choice for both new and existing applications. If you're upgrading from an earlier version, refer to the upgrade guide.

Souy Soeng

What’s new in Laravel 9?