Nodejs vs Laravel: How To Choose The Right Framework

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Web frameworks are very important as they ease the development process. They contain many in-built tools and features for a web development standard. Frameworks reduce the time of development, and because of this, the production stage takes place earlier than the estimated time. So, the choice of a framework directly influences the success of a project.

Tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon have already made their contributions to Nodejs, which makes it highly preferable. In this article, we will analyze the complete concepts of Nodejs vs Laravel along with a detailed comparison of their key differences, which will assist you in choosing the suitable framework for your project.

Node.js vs. Laravel
Nodejs vs Laravel: How to choose the right framework

What is Nodejs?

Nodejs is a server-side, JavaScript-based computing program that is a solid open-source tool. It enables its success as a high-performance, single-threaded, dynamic framework used for web loading and async programming. It is powered by the V8 engine that works as a translator in JavaScript into machine code.

Nodejs also promotes the use of frameworks that are based on the combination of scalability and high efficiency, which increases the abilities of the backend part. Some of those frameworks include Express, Socket.io, and Meteor.js. Nodejs is the most recommended for creating RTAs, which are web applications that acknowledge user input in real-time.

Use cases of Nodejs

  • Real-time communication programs and software
  • Online streaming web applications
  • Servers
  • Backend APIs
  • Microservices
  • Web applications for IoT
  • Scripts and automation

Widely used applications with a backend using Nodejs

NASA: NASA revealed that Nodejs can migrate data from legacy databases to a cloud database effortlessly. It developed a single database for any issue and lowered the ratio of access time largely by 300%.

Trello: Trello carries out instant multiplication of updates. As the application enables the tasks on an active basis, it requires a tool that instantly reflects the updates without reloading the same page.

Netflix: Netflix reduces startup time and increases performance. They transferred their data from JavaScript to Nodejs, which resulted in the timing of the startup being changed from 40 minutes to 60 seconds.

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What is Laravel?

Laravel is an open-source PHP framework that provides routing and HTML documentation on the server side. Created by Tylor Otwell, Laravel is based on Symfony, which provides reusable PHP components. 

The main benefit is based on the server side, i.e. the predefined architecture applications can be developed through customized templates, logic, web portals, and full-stack applications. What’s more, you will also be able to manage and maintain the SaaS projects.

Use cases of Laravel

  • On-demand online streaming applications
  • SaaS-based web applications
  • Ed-Tech web applications
  • Stock trading web applications
  • performance tracking applications
  • CMS systems that offer different languages

Widely used applications with a backend using Laravel

Laracasts: It is an online learning website that offers several courses and services as a platform where technical problems are solved and answered by experts.

Barchart: Barchart is a financial platform that obtains benefits from the latest global stock market data, trade offers, currency exchanges, gold prices, and much more.

Asgard CMS: It is a multilingual modular CMS that offers ready-to-use in future modules, like the dashboard, media management, and dynamic back-end support.

👉 Read more about the role of a Laravel Developer

Nodejs vs Laravel – Key differences

NodejsLaravel
Nodejs is the recognized market leader compared to Laravel.Laravel is not in-demand in the market compared to Nodejs. 
Nodejs is most suitable for the arts, entertainment, and automobile sectors.Laravel is most suitable for education, business, and shopping.
The Nodejs framework has no in-built templates, yet there is a chance to combine third-party tools to fix the problems.The Laravel framework has in-built templates that are designed to develop a basic layout with significant segments for every purpose.
Its single-threaded loop model is the means to manage multiple simultaneous requests effortlessly and without reducing the quality of performance.Its model view controller architecture encourages separating the work on the front as well as the backend. This shows the development team with increased flexibility.
Nodejs offers testing with the assistance of third-party tools like Mocha, Jest, Lab, and code for automated tests with AVA for the ecosystem.PHP offers several testing tools for Laravel. However, there is a possibility to conduct tests on only two stages, namely, unit tests and feature tests. 
Nodejs supports various types of databases, but NoSQL databases work the best with it. Laravel supports several kinds of databases, namely, SQL, SQLite, MySQL, and Postgres. 

A detailed comparison

#1 Performance

Performance is a very significant matter to consider while developing web applications. Laravel’s performance is comparatively slow, but it can be increased if optimized efficiently. Also, the cache tags of Laravel allow applications to load pre-stored data, which results in faster response time and more efficient performance.

On the other hand, due to the non-blocking future provided by Nodejs, it is the ideal choice for microoperations that don’t affect the main purpose. It works on multiple requests simultaneously, which makes it more suitable as the top-performing language compared to many backend languages.

#2 Scalability

It is crucial to select the appropriate framework as it should include higher scalability. Those applications that are developed through Laravel get scalability from PHP. Laravel can achieve large horizontal scaling by utilizing a suitable load balancer and database. By using advanced-level caching methods, MySQL, and AWL, it can scale as per the requirements.

While Nodejs applications are mostly scalable because of their non-blocking input/output, and event-oriented models, which can support multiple requests, their event loop mechanism allows the server to manage the formation of requests. However, its compatibility with microservices or small projects works efficiently by separating apps into smaller units.

#3 Effortless testing

Web app development is not just limited to developing an app; it does so much more. The app has to withstand a series of tests to make sure that it meets the required UI standards, compatibility, and usability. 

Laravel provides tools and resources for testing. Those tools are provided to ensure it is a complete, bug-free application. To make the testing more manageable, it conducts tests in two phases – unit and feature. It also has solid documentation for testing and provides various tools to test the apps at all stages, including mock tests.

On the other hand, Nodejs has debugging abilities and competitive testing methods, which include different automated testing tools like Jasmine, Jest, Lab, Code, Mocha, and AVA, and it also develops a soundproof testing ecosystem for applications.

#4 Database support

Currently, Laravel supports mainly four databases – SQL, SQLite, MySQL, and PostgreSQL. Further, the raw SQL and forcible ORM create easy communication with these databases. Normally, not every database supports Laravel, but once you learn the concept of any database that supports Laravel, you will be able to resolve any issue.

On the contrary, Nodejs supports almost every type of database, like relational and NoSQL. It is suggested to use a database like MongoDB to store information in JSON objects, as it offers easy access for Nodejs.

Conclusion

To sum up, choosing the accurate backend technology is very vital for the success factor of your project. Both of these technologies work in the best possible way.  

Choosing the right technology requires in-depth research in terms of compatibility, scalability, performance, and several other parameters. Selecting the right Nodejs development companies will solve most of the concerns. You won’t have to worry about those concerns as they will have the most efficient team of developers. 

Stefania Volpe

Stefania joined the international team at freelancermap in 2020. She loves marketing, the digital world, foreign languages and meeting different cultures. She moved from Italy to Germany thanks to an exchange program at the university and worked as marketing manager for several startups. Now she focuses on helping freelancers and IT professionals to find jobs and clients worldwide at www.freelancermap.com.

By Stefania Volpe

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