On 28 to 30 August, the Laracon EU took place in the NDSM hangar in Amsterdam. Niels and Joey decided to drop by Europe's largest Laravel conference again this year, to listen to various speakers. What did they notice?

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To begin with, what exactly is Laravel?

Niels: Laravel is the framework on which we build the backend of all our applications. Laravel is big and well-known in the world of developers. The vacancies you find online nowadays specifically ask for skills in the field of Laravel. Laravel is that conference on Laravel, organised by the American Shawn McCool, who lives in the Netherlands.

Which speakers stood out to you?

Niels: The first interesting speaker was the Finn Antti Rössi. His presentation was about securing applications against hackers. Muhammed is the expert at SevenLab. Antti showed how you can make your framework work wrongly so that the whole world can access the server. With a simple scan he showed where the door was open for hackers. Mouths dropped open in the room.

Joey: I found the talk about security the most interesting, especially because we are currently working on it a lot at SevenLab. I graduated in security myself, so I found it very interesting to see. I think it was a reality check for everyone and a reminder that software must also be carefully monitored after it has been delivered.

What else was there to see?

Niels: The creator of Laraval was also there, Taylor Otwell. At the conference in America, he generally unveils the latest version of Laravel. He also explains his thoughts behind it. At Laracon EU he always goes deeper into this and shows what content has been changed. If you are at this presentation, you hardly need to read the documentation. He brings it in his own playful way. Very nice to see. After all, he is the creator, so he is always received with great enthusiasm.

Laravel Cashier

Joey: Another interesting speaker was Sander van Hooft. He has written an extension to Laravel that enables payments through European systems by linking to Mollie. Until now it was only possible to link for example Credit Card and PayPal through Laravel. The new extension allows developers to set up a payment system with, for example, iDeal within an hour.

Niels: For us, this system is interesting for Intrapush. Until now, we could only accept credit card payments. This is a great development for us.

Laracon EU Madrid

Niels: Since this year, there has also been a Laravel conference in Madrid. This one is a bit smaller than the one in Amsterdam, which attracts about 1000 people. In Amsterdam you see developers from all over the world: Scandinavia, Germany and Belgium for example. In Madrid you will find many southern Europeans. The conference here in Amsterdam lasts three days. On Wednesdays, there are also workshops. I find them a bit pricey and the speakers on Thursday and Friday are actually enough.

Laracon the afterparty

Niels: There was an afterparty again this year, fortunately after the event on Friday instead of Thursday. It is always nice to have a beer with well-known people in the world of developers. Most of the speakers were present at the afterparty. I was able to speak to quite a few people. I think it's always good to show your face. There are many acquaintances you meet there every year, it's a fairly small world.

Joey: What I like is that they manage to get the whole community together. You notice that it is a close-knit group of people. That is why I always enjoy visiting the Laracon EU.

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