Why Matt Stauffer’s latest Laravel guide feels more like Laravel Lite™ in 2025

London, May 2025 — When you see a title like Laravel: Up & Running – A Deep Dive into Building Modern PHP Apps, you expect, well, a deep dive. Matt Stauffer, a respected name in the Laravel community, certainly knows his stuff — and his third edition, now updated for Laravel 10, is packed with the same clean writing and thoughtful structure that helped earlier versions become staples for newcomers.

But here’s the tea 🍵: in a world where Laravel’s ecosystem is expanding faster than TikTok trends, this book just doesn’t go deep enough for developers already in the game. It’s not bad, it’s just not keeping pace with what modern devs really need.

🧭 Great On-Ramp, But Lacks Depth for Experienced Devs

Let’s be real — if you’re brand new to Laravel or returning after a long hiatus, this book’s got value. It introduces concepts like routing, Blade templating, testing, queues, and APIs in a clean, understandable way.

But as soon as you start looking for the real sauce — things like service container internals, advanced testing strategies with Pest, Laravel Octane considerations, event-driven architecture, or deployment strategies — the book kinda pulls back and says:

“Here’s a taste. For more, go check the docs.”

And that’s fine, but it doesn’t live up to the “deep dive” label. 如果你已经是中级开发者 (if you’re already a mid-level dev), you might find yourself flipping pages just to find something new.

🧪 Testing Content Is… Oddly Placed

The inclusion of testing is appreciated, but the structure’s a bit off. Tests pop up in early chapters before the reader’s even been shown how Laravel’s testing syntax works. It’s like learning to drive stick before you know what a clutch does. Would’ve been cleaner to introduce it properly then build on it.

🌐 Not Enough on Modern Laravel Stack

Laravel has evolved massively — with tools like Volt, Livewire v3, Laravel Reverb, and ecosystem upgrades like parallel testing, Docker-first environments, and full-stack SSR becoming the norm. But none of that makes a serious appearance in this edition. Even the bits on Jetstream, Fortify, and Vite feel more like mentions than walkthroughs.

这本书就像 Laravel 的旧版本 — 稳定但缺乏现代感。 (“This book feels like an older version of Laravel — stable but lacking modern flair.”)

🎧 Bonus Win: Audio Overview 🎧

To be fair, one nice modern touch is the audio overview of the book. Yeah, you can stream or download it — which is super handy for commuters, neurodiverse learners, or anyone who learns better by listening than by reading long blocks of code and text. Props for that inclusion — it makes the content more accessible. 🧠💿

✅ Verdict: Respectable Effort, But Time to Level Up

We’re not throwing shade at Stauffer — he’s contributed a lot to the Laravel ecosystem. This book just doesn’t reflect where Laravel is in 2025. It’s great for first-time Laravel devs or PHP folks transitioning from WordPress or legacy apps. But if you’re looking to master enterprise-scale Laravel development or microservices, this won’t get you there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuEgkCheq4I