Laravel - Routing

Routing in Laravel is a fundamental concept that defines how the application responds to HTTP requests. Laravel uses a simple and expressive routing syntax, allowing you to define routes for various URI patterns and link them to controller actions or closures. Here's an overview of Laravel routing:--

Basic Routing:

1. Defining Routes:

   • Routes are typically defined in the routes/web.php file for web routes and routes/api.php for API routes.

   • Define a route using the Route facade:

     Route::get('/', function () { return 'Welcome to the homepage!'; }); 

     This route responds to HTTP GET requests to the root URL (/) with a closure that returns a simple message.

2. HTTP Verbs:

   • Laravel provides methods for common HTTP verbs (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE). For example:

     Route::post('/submit', 'FormController@submit'); 

     This route responds to HTTP POST requests to the /submit URL and directs them to the submit method of the FormController.

Route Parameters:

1. Required Parameters:

   • You can define route parameters by enclosing them in curly braces {}:

     Route::get('/user/{id}', function ($id) { return 'User ID: ' . $id; }); 

     This route responds to URLs like /user/123.

2. Optional Parameters:

   • You can make parameters optional by providing a default value:

     Route::get('/user/{name?}', function ($name = 'Guest') { return 'Hello, ' . $name; }); 

     This route responds to URLs like /user or /user/John.

Named Routes:

1. Naming Routes:

   • You can name routes to simplify URL generation and redirects:

     Route::get('/dashboard', 'DashboardController@index')->name('dashboard'); 

2. Generating URLs:

   • Use the route function to generate URLs for named routes:

     $url = route('dashboard'); 

Route Groups:

1. Grouping Routes:

   • You can group routes to apply common attributes, such as middleware or a common namespace:

     Route::middleware(['auth'])->group(function () { // Routes that require authentication }); 

Route Middleware:

1. Applying Middleware:

   • Middleware can be applied to routes to perform actions before or after the request enters the controller:

     Route::get('/admin', function () { // Your logic here })->middleware('auth'); 

2. Multiple Middleware:

   • You can apply multiple middleware to a route:

     Route::get('/admin', function () { // Your logic here })->middleware(['auth', 'admin']); 

Route Caching:

1. Caching Routes:

   • In production, you can cache routes for better performance:

     php artisan route:cache 

   • To clear the route cache:

     php artisan route:clear 

Route Model Binding:

1. Implicit Binding:

   • Laravel supports automatic model binding in routes:

     Route::get('/user/{user}', function (App\Models\User $user) { return $user; }); 

     The User model instance will be injected based on the route parameter.

2. Custom Binding:

   • You can define custom model bindings in the RouteServiceProvider.

Route Resources:

1. Resourceful Routes:

   • Use the resource method to define resourceful routes:

     Route::resource('photos', 'PhotoController'); 

     This creates routes for common CRUD operations on photos.

2. Naming Resource Routes:

   • You can name resource routes for URL generation:

     Route::resource('photos', 'PhotoController')->names('admin.photos'); 

     This allows generating URLs like route('admin.photos.index').