Laravel 5.1 was announced as the framework's first Long Term Support (LTS) release. Laravel Elixir was introduced to handle asset compilation workflows. Taylor Otwell previewed Laravel Spark, a premium scaffolding solution for SaaS applications.
In this talk titled 'Chasing Perfect', Adam Wathan discusses how to improve code quality by focusing on fundamental object-oriented design principles rather than chasing complex architectural patterns. He demonstrates this through a practical example of implementing a coupon discount system, showing how to iteratively refactor the code to be cleaner and more maintainable using techniques like polymorphism and the null object pattern.
Taylor Otwell presents new features in Laravel 5.5 and introduces Laravel Horizon, a new open-source queue monitoring and management dashboard. The talk covers various improvements to Laravel's core functionality including route shortcuts, blade directives, and queue management. The main highlight is the detailed demonstration of Horizon's features including real-time queue monitoring, job failure handling, auto-balancing of queue workers, and metric tracking.
Jeffrey Way discusses his philosophy on writing simpler code and building better software, drawing from his experience with Laravel and other industries. He emphasizes the importance of caring about seemingly unimportant details, favoring simple and intuitive APIs over technical purity, and maintaining a healthy level of skepticism towards trending development practices. The talk uses Laravel Elixir as a case study for how focusing on user experience and simplicity can lead to better tools.