This content originally appeared on DEV Community 👩‍💻👨‍💻 and was authored by Wahyu Kristianto
Many ask what is the difference between Laravel and Lumen. Here is my answer on StackOverflow:
Apr 15 '15
Comments: 4
Answers: 8
194
I read the documentation and it seems Lumen is Laravel with less features. I must be missing something.
I am looking for a comparison table of the components and features of both Laravel and Lumen. Does anyone know the differences?
Routing
Basic
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
GET |
Route::get($uri, $callback) |
$router->get($uri, $callback) |
POST |
Route::post($uri, $callback) |
$router->post($uri, $callback) |
PUT |
Route::put($uri, $callback) |
$router->put($uri, $callback) |
PATCH |
Route::patch($uri, $callback) |
$router->patch($uri, $callback) |
DELETE |
Route::delete($uri, $callback) |
$router->delete($uri, $callback) |
OPTION |
Route::option($uri, $callback) |
$router->option($uri, $callback) |
| Multiple HTTP verbs |
Route::match($types, $uri, $callback) |
 |
| All HTTP verbs |
Route::any($uri, $callback) |
|
Redirect Routes
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
Route::redirect($from, $to, $status); |
|
| Premanent |
Route::permanentRedirect($from, $to); |
|
View Routes
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
Route::view($from, $to); |
|
Route Parameters
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Parameters |
 |
|
| Parameters & Dependency Injection |
|
|
| Required Parameters |
|
|
| Required Parameters |
|
|
| Regular Expression Constraints |
|
|
| Global Constraints |
|
|
Named Routes
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
Route::get($uri, $callback)->name('profile') |
$router->get($uri, ['as' => 'profile', $callback]) |
| Generating URLs To Named Routes |
route('profile') |
route('profile') |
| Inspecting The Current Route by Name |
$request->route()->named('profile') boolean |
|
Route Groups
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Middleware |
Route::middleware($middleware) |
$router->group(['middleware' => $middleware], $callback) |
| Controllers |
Route::controller(ProfileController::class) |
|
| Subdomain Routing |
Route::domain('{account}.example.com') |
|
| Namespaces |
Route::namespace($namespace) |
$router->group(['namespace' => $namespace], $callback) |
| Route Prefixes |
Route::prefix('admin') |
$router->group(['prefix' => 'admin'], $callback) |
| Route Name Prefixes |
Route::name('admin.') |
|
Route Model Binding
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Implicit Binding |
|
|
| Implicit Enum Binding |
|
|
| Explicit Binding |
|
|
Fallback Routes
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
Route::fallback() |
|
Route Caching
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
|
|
Middleware
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Defining Middleware |
artisan make:middleware |
Manual |
| Global Middleware |
|
|
| Assigning Middleware To Routes |
|
|
| Middleware Groups |
|
|
| Middleware Parameters |
|
|
| Terminable Middleware |
|
|
CSRF Protection
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
|
|
CSRF removed since Lumen version 5.2
Controllers
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Defining Controller |
artisan make:controller |
Manual |
| Basic |
|
|
| Single Action Controllers |
|
|
| Controller Middleware |
|
|
| Resource Controllers |
|
|
| Dependency Injection & Controllers |
|
|
Requests
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Accessing The Request |
|
|
| Request Path & Method |
|
|
| Request Headers |
|
|
| Request IP Address |
|
|
| Content Negotiation |
|
|
| PSR-7 Requests |
|
|
| Retrieving Input |
|
|
| Determining If Input Is Present |
|
|
| Merging Additional Input |
|
|
| Old Input |
|
|
| Cookies |
|
|
| Input Trimming & Normalization |
|
|
| Retrieving Uploaded Files |
|
|
| Moving Uploaded Files |
|
|
Response
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Attaching Headers To Responses |
|
|
| Attaching Cookies To Responses |
|
|
| Redirects |
|
|
| View Responses |
|
|
| JSON Responses |
|
|
| File Downloads |
|
|
| File Responses |
|
|
Views & Blade
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
|
|
| Blade |
|
|
Session
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
|
|
Session removed since Lumen version 5.2
Validation
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
|
|
| Form Requests |
|
|
The $this->validate Method |
|
The $this->validate helper which is available in Lumen will always return a JSON response with the relevant error messages. This is in contrast to the Laravel version of the method which will return a redirect response if the request is not an AJAX request. Since Lumen is stateless and does not support sessions, flashing errors to the session is not a possibility. Unlike Laravel, Lumen provides access to the validate method from within Route closures. |
The exists And unique Rules |
|
If you would like to use the exists or unique validation rules, you should uncomment the $app->withEloquent() method call in your bootstrap/app.php file. |
The $errors View Variable |
|
Lumen does not support sessions out of the box, so the $errors view variable that is available in every view in Laravel is not available in Lumen. Should validation fail, the $this->validate helper will throw Illuminate\Validation\ValidationException with embedded JSON response that includes all relevant error messages. |
Errors & Logging
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Error |
|
|
| Logging |
|
|
Artisan Console
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Running Commands |
|
|
| Writing Commands |
|
|
Cache
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
|
|
Before using the Cache facade, be sure you have uncommented the $app->withFacades() method call in your bootstrap/app.php file.
Redis Support
Before using a Redis cache with Lumen, you will need to install the illuminate/redis package via Composer. Then, you should register the Illuminate\Redis\RedisServiceProvider in your bootstrap/app.php file:
$app->register(Illuminate\Redis\RedisServiceProvider::class);
If you have not called $app->withEloquent() in your bootstrap/app.php file, then you should call $app->configure('database'); in the bootstrap/app.php file to ensure the Redis database configuration is properly loaded.
Compiling Assets
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Mix |
|
|
Events
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
|
|
Generators
In Lumen, there are no generator commands to generate events and listeners for you, so you should simply copy the ExampleEvent or ExampleListener classes to define your own events and listeners. These example classes provide the basic structure of every event and listener.
Registering Events / Listeners
Like the full Laravel framework, the EventServiceProvider included with your Lumen application provides a convenient place to register all event listeners. The listen property contains an array of all events (keys) and their listeners (values). Of course, you may add as many events to this array as your application requires:
protected $listen = [
'App\Events\ExampleEvent' => [
'App\Listeners\ExampleListener',
],
];
Firing Events
You may use the event helper function or Event facade to fire events throughout your Lumen application. Again, these functions behave exactly like their full Laravel framework equivalent:
event(new ExampleEvent);
Event::dispatch(new ExampleEvent);
Authentication & Authorization
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Authentication |
|
|
| Authorization |
|
|
Authentication
Authentication in Lumen, while using the same underlying libraries as Laravel, is configured quite differently from the full Laravel framework. Since Lumen does not support session state, incoming requests that you wish to authenticate must be authenticated via a stateless mechanism such as API tokens.
Authorization
Defining Abilities
The primary difference when using authorization in Lumen compared to Laravel is in regards to how abilities are defined. In Lumen, you may simply use the Gate facade in your AuthServiceProvider to define abilities:
Gate::define('update-post', function ($user, $post) {
return $user->id === $post->user_id;
});
Defining Policies
Unlike Laravel, Lumen does not have a $policies array on its AuthServiceProvider. However, you may still call the policy method on the Gate facade from within the provider's boot method:
Gate::policy(Post::class, PostPolicy::class);
Checking Abilities
You may "check" abilities just as you would in the full Laravel framework. First, you may use the Gate facade. If you choose to use the facade, be sure to enable facades in your bootstrap/app.php file. Remember, we don't need to pass the User instance into the allows method since the currently authenticated user will automatically be passed to your authorization callback:
if (Gate::allows('update-post', $post)) {
//
}
if (Gate::denies('update-post', $post)) {
abort(403);
}
Of course, you may also check if a given User instance has a given ability:
if ($request->user()->can('update-post', $post)) {
// The user is allowed to update the post...
}
if ($request->user()->cannot('update-post', $post)) {
abort(403);
}
Database
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic Queries |
|
|
| Query Builder |
|
|
| Eloquent ORM |
|
|
| Migrations |
|
|
| Seeders |
|
|
If you would like to use the DB facade, you should uncomment the $app->withFacades() call in your bootstrap/app.php file.
Email Verification & Resetting Passwords
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Email Verification |
|
|
| Resetting Passwords |
|
|
Encryption & Hashing
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Encryption |
|
|
| Hashing |
|
|
You should set the APP_KEY option of your .env file to a 32 character, random string. If this value is not properly set, all values encrypted by Lumen will be insecure.
Mail
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
|
|
Queues
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
|
|
Closure jobs are not supported by Lumen.
Generators
Lumen does not include generators for automatically creating new Job classes. Instead, you should copy the ExampleJob class that is included with the framework.
Dispatching Jobs
Again, you should consult the full Laravel queue documentation for complete information on dispatching queued jobs; however, just like in the Laravel framework, you may use the dispatch function to dispatch jobs from anywhere within your Lumen application:
dispatch(new ExampleJob);
Of course, you may also use the Queue facade. If you choose to use the facade, be sure to uncomment the call to $app->withFacades() in your bootstrap/app.php file:
Queue::push(new ExampleJob);
Service Container
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
|
|
Accessing The Container
The Laravel\Lumen\Application instance is an extension of Illuminate\Container\Container, so it may be treated as the service container for your application.
Resolving Instances
To resolve things out of the container, you may either type-hint the dependency you need on a class that is already automatically resolved by the container, such as a route Closure, controller constructor, controller method, middleware, event listener, or queued job. Or, you may use the app function from anywhere in your application:
$instance = app(Something::class);
Testing
| Features |
Laravel |
Lumen |
| Basic |
|
|
This content originally appeared on DEV Community 👩‍💻👨‍💻 and was authored by Wahyu Kristianto
