On the /r/php subreddit from Reddit.com there's a post from Spvrtan asking the community what technologies they're using for local development in their day to day development work.

It's honestly been over 5 years since I last touched PHP on the back-end. At that time, other than "doing it live", XAMPP was the top dog for local environments. Is there a new player in the space or should I go with the same? I've been working primarily as a front-end engineer for the past few years during my full-time employment roles and touched the back-end on projects I've worked on but they've all been Java-based.

They also ask what other developers are using for their deployment tools and pipelines. Answers to the post so far include some of the usual tools and methods including:

• Docker
• puphpet (for use with Vagrant)
• Homestead from Laravel

Other comments also mention the manual creation of virtual machines and even support for local installations rather than virtual ones. What's your development environment like? Head over to the topic and share your own setup too.

There's a huge thread that's been going on over in the /r/php subreddit on Reddit.com with opinions on why experienced developers consider Laravel as a poorly designed framework.

I have been developing in Laravel and I loved it. My work colleagues that have been developing for over 10 years (I have 2 years experience) say that Laravel is maybe fast to develop and easy to understand but its only because it is poorly designed. He is strongly Symfony orientated and as per his instructions for past couple of months I have been learning Symfony and I have just finished a deployment of my first website. I miss Laravel ways so much.

Currently there's over 200 responses to the question with a wide range of opinions, everything from support of Laravel and its ways to the other side supporting Symfony and its structure. As is par for the course, there's also a share of "troll" comments in the mix, so be sure as you're reading through them to weed those out. There's also some interesting and enlightening things about Laravel, its structure and what it has to offer that those that may not be familiar with it could learn.