Laravel is a PHP web application framework that provides an elegant and efficient way to build web applications. Here are the steps for installing Laravel on your system:
1. Install PHP and Composer:
Laravel requires PHP form 7.3 or higher and Composer, a bundle chief for PHP. Download PHP from the PHP official site and take after the enlightening for your working framework. To introduce Composer, take after the enlightening on the Composer site.
2. Install Laravel:
Once you have installed PHP and Composer, you can install Laravel using the following command in your terminal:
composer global require laravel/installer
This will introduce the Laravel installer universally on your framework.
3. Create a new Laravel project:
To create a new Laravel project, navigate to the directory where you want to create your project and run the following command in your terminal:
laravel new myproject
This will make a unused Laravel venture named “myproject” within the current catalog.
4. Serve your Laravel application:
To serve your Laravel application, navigate to the project directory and run the following command:
php artisan serve
This will start a development server at http://localhost:8000 where you can view your Laravel application.
These are the basic steps for installing Laravel on your system. Once you have installed Laravel, you can start building your web application using its powerful features and tools.
Structure of a Laravel application
Laravel follows a specific application structure to ensure a clear separation of concerns and to make it easy to organize and maintain your code. Here’s an overview of the Laravel application structure:
1. App directory:
The app directory contains the core application logic, including controllers, models, views, and other supporting files.
2. Bootstrap directory:
The bootstrap directory contains the files necessary to bootstrap the application, including the app.php file, which sets up the service container and service providers.
3. Config directory:
The config directory contains the application configuration files, including database settings, email settings, and other application-specific settings.
4. Database directory:
The database directory contains the database migrations, seeds, and factories, as well as the factories directory for generating model data.
5. Public directory:
The public directory contains the publicly accessible files for the application, including the index.php file, which serves as the entry point for all incoming requests.
6. Resources directory:
The resources directory contains the views, assets, and language files for the application, as well as the lang directory for storing translations.
7. Routes directory:
The routes directory contains the application’s route definitions, which map incoming requests to specific controller actions or closures.
8. Storage directory:
The save directory contains files generated by your application, such as logs, cache files, and uploaded files.
9. Tests directory:
The tests directory contains the application’s automated tests.
10. Vendor directory:
The seller catalog contains the third-party bundles introduced by Composer.
This is often a high-level outline of the Laravel application structure. By taking after this structure, you’ll be able keep your code organized and viable, making it less demanding to construct and keep up complex web applications.
Configuration of Laravel
Laravel is a prominent PHP framework that adheres to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural paradigm. It has a sophisticated configuration mechanism that allows you to change numerous parts of your Laravel application. The configuration files are kept in the config directory of your Laravel project. Here’s an introduction of Laravel settings and some examples:
1. Environment Configuration:
Laravel provides separate configuration files for different environments (e.g., development, production). These files are stored in the config directory and are named after the environment (e.g., config/app.php for general configuration).
Example: config/app.php
return [
'debug' => env('APP_DEBUG', false),
'timezone' => 'UTC',
'locale' => 'en',
// ...
];
2. Database Configuration:
Laravel allows you to configure your database connections in the config/database.php file. You can specify multiple database connections and switch between them as needed.
Example: config/database.php
return [
'default' => env('DB_CONNECTION', 'mysql'),
'connections' => [
'mysql' => [
'driver' => 'mysql',
'host' => env('DB_HOST', '127.0.0.1'),
'port' => env('DB_PORT', '3306'),
'database' => env('DB_DATABASE', 'forge'),
'username' => env('DB_USERNAME', 'forge'),
'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD', ''),
// ...
],
// ...
],
// ...
];
3. Application Key:
Laravel uses an application key for encryption and other security-related purposes. You can set the application key in the .env file located in the root directory of your Laravel project.
Example: .env
APP_KEY=base64:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
4. Service Configuration:
Laravel provides various services such as caching, mail, logging, etc., which can be configured in their respective configuration files. For example, the mail service configuration can be found in config/mail.php.
Example: config/mail.php
return [
'default' => env('MAIL_MAILER', 'smtp'),
'mailers' => [
'smtp' => [
'transport' => 'smtp',
'host' => env('MAIL_HOST', 'smtp.mailtrap.io'),
'port' => env('MAIL_PORT', 2525),
'username' => env('MAIL_USERNAME'),
'password' => env('MAIL_PASSWORD'),
// ...
],
// ...
],
// ...
];
These examples demonstrate some common configuration files in Laravel. However, Laravel offers a wide range of configuration options for different components and packages. By modifying these configuration files, you can tailor your Laravel application to suit your specific requirements and environment.
Routing in Laravel
In Laravel, routing refers to the process of defining endpoints (URLs) and associating them with actions or callbacks that should be executed when those endpoints are accessed. Laravel provides a powerful routing system that allows you to define routes in a simple and expressive manner. Here’s an overview of Laravel routing and some examples:
1. Basic Routing:
The most common type of route in Laravel is the basic GET route, which responds to an HTTP GET request to a specific URL. You can define basic routes using the Route::get() method.
Example:
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
Route::get('/about', function () {
return 'This is the About page.';
});
In this example, when a GET request is made to the /about URL, the anonymous function specified as the second argument will be executed, and the string ‘This is the About page.’ will be returned as the response.
2. Route Parameters:
Laravel allows you to define dynamic routes by using route parameters enclosed in curly braces {}. These parameters capture parts of the URL and make them available to your route’s callback function.
Example:
Route::get('/users/{id}', function ($id) {
return 'User ID: ' . $id;
});
In this example, when a GET request is made to a URL like /users/123, the value 123 will be captured as the $id parameter and can be accessed within the route’s callback function.
3. Route Names and Named Routes:
The name() function may be used to name a route. Instead of hardcoding the URL, named routes enable you to construct URLs for a given route using the route’s name.
Example:
Route::get('/contact', function () {
return 'This is the Contact page.';
})->name('contact');
With the named route defined, you can generate URLs using the route() helper function:
$url = route('contact'); // Returns '/contact'
4. Route Groups:
Route groups allow you to group multiple routes that share common properties or attributes, such as middleware, prefix, or namespace.
Example:
Route::prefix('admin')->middleware('auth')->group(function () {
Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
return 'Admin Dashboard';
});
Route::get('/users', function () {
return 'Admin Users';
});
});
In this example, the routes within the group have the /admin prefix and are protected by the auth middleware. So, the URLs /admin/dashboard and /admin/users will be accessible only to authenticated users.
These are just a few examples of Laravel routing. Laravel provides additional routing features such as route parameters constraints, resourceful routing, route model binding, and more. The routing system in Laravel is flexible and powerful, allowing you to define and handle various HTTP request methods, customize route behavior, and build RESTful APIs or web applications with ease.
Middleware for Laravel
Middleware in Laravel offers a practical approach to filter HTTP requests coming into your application. Middleware allows you to conduct operations on the request or response, alter them, or include new functionality. It lies between the client’s request and the application’s answer. Authentication, authorization, request validation, logging, and other operations may all be done via middleware. An overview of Laravel middleware is given below:
1. Creating a Middleware:
The make:middleware Artisan command allows you to construct middleware. The app/Http/Middleware directory will now include a new middleware class as a result.
Example:
php artisan make:middleware CheckAge
This command will create a CheckAge middleware class.
2. Middleware Structure:
A middleware class in Laravel contains a handle method, which receives the request and a closure representing the next middleware or the endpoint. The handle method can perform any necessary operations on the request and decide whether to pass it to the next middleware or terminate the request.
Example:
namespace App\Http\Middleware;
use Closure;
class CheckAge
{
public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
if ($request->age < 18) {
return redirect('/home');
}
return $next($request);
}
}
In this example, the CheckAge middleware checks if the request has an age parameter less than 18. If so, it redirects the user to the /home URL; otherwise, it passes the request to the next middleware or endpoint.
3. Registering Middleware:
Middleware can be registered at different levels in Laravel, such as global middleware, route middleware, or group middleware. The choice depends on when and where you want the middleware to be applied.
- Global Middleware: Global middleware applies to all HTTP requests entering your application. You can define global middleware in the $middleware property of the app/Http/Kernel.php file.
- Global Middleware: Global middleware applies to all HTTP requests entering your application. You can define global middleware in the $middleware property of the app/Http/Kernel.php file.
- Group Middleware: Group middleware allows you to group routes and apply middleware to the entire group. It provides a convenient way to apply common middleware to a set of routes. You can define group middleware using the middleware method within the Route class.
4. Middleware Execution Order
Middleware in Laravel is executed in the order they are registered. Global middleware is executed on every request, followed by route middleware. Within route middleware, you can specify the order using the order of the middleware registration.
Example:
// Global Middleware
protected $middleware = [
\App\Http\Middleware\EncryptCookies::class,
\Illuminate\Cookie\Middleware\AddQueuedCookiesToResponse::class,
\Illuminate\Session\Middleware\StartSession::class,
\Illuminate\View\Middleware\ShareErrorsFromSession::class,
\App\Http\Middleware\VerifyCsrfToken::class,
\Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\SubstituteBindings::class,
];
// Route Middleware
protected $routeMiddleware = [
'auth' => \App\Http\Middleware\Authenticate::class,
'admin' => \App\Http\Middleware\AdminMiddleware::class,
];
In this example, the global middleware will be executed on every request, and the auth and admin route middleware can be assigned to specific routes or route groups.
Middleware is a powerful feature in Laravel that helps you to intercept and modify HTTP requests and responses. It provides a flexible way to add functionality