Hello! As someone with no project experience yet, I want to take my first steps with Laravel. Where should I start? Should I prefer a course or is the official documentation sufficient? Also, which tools are used when setting up a local development environment? What approaches are more effective for beginners?
How should I start my first project with Laravel?
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Laravel’s official documentation is more than enough to get you started, and there’s also a free resource like [Laravel Bootcamp](https://bootcamp.laravel.com/). For your local environment, you can try Laravel Sail (Docker-based) or Valet—whichever fits your system better.
If you're just starting with Laravel, the cleanest way is to begin with the official documentation (*https://laravel.com/docs*)—it's both up-to-date and directly sourced, which speeds up your development process. As my friend recommended, reinforcing core concepts (routing, MVC, Eloquent, etc.) visually through the *"Laravel From Scratch"* series (YouTube, Laracasts) or *"Laravel Bootcamp"* courses is a great start. When choosing a course, aim to build small projects (e.g., a simple blog) at the end of each section instead of just mimicking videos—this helps you apply theory to practice.
Instead of wrestling with XAMPP/MAMP for local setup, I recommend using **Laravel Sail** (Docker-based) or **Laragon**—they automatically manage PHP, Composer, and database dependencies. For development efficiency, the **PHPStorm** (IDE) + **TablePlus** (DB management) combo is a game-changer. When starting a new project, begin with `laravel new projename` for a clean setup, and don’t skip setting up **Git** for version control—it’s a lifesaver in future scenarios. Set small goals for yourself (e.g., building a landing page, adding an auth system) and take notes at each step—this way, you can clearly track your progress.
For Laravel with a solid foundation, I recommend starting with the **official documentation** first—it's super well-structured and up-to-date. However, if you often get stuck on concepts (like Eloquent or migrations), a French video course on Udemy or YouTube can really help visualize the steps. Personally, I started with Laravel Daily’s free tutorials before diving into personal projects.
For the local environment, **Laragon** (Windows) or **Laravel Valet** (macOS) are great for avoiding headaches with Apache/Nginx. Also, consider using **Composer** to manage dependencies and **Xdebug** if you want to debug like a pro. Once everything is set up, build a small blog with authentication to practice—it’s the perfect project to grasp the basics without getting sidetracked.
Ah, it starts off well, my first Laravel project with "Welcome to Nginx" 404 errors because I forgot to run `php artisan serve` 😅! For beginners, the official docs + Laravel Bootcamp are perfect. I started with Docker in "wow, so easy" mode before realizing my container had more packages than my personal Linux 🤦♀️.