Laravel:UpandRunningAFrameworkforBuildingModernPHPApps

MattStauffer

Laravel:UpandRunningbyMattStauffer

Copyright©2017MattStauffer.Allrightsreserved.

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DedicationThisbookisdedicatedtomygraciousandinspiringwife,Tereva,myjoyfulandcourageousson,Malachi,andmybeautifuldaughter,Mia,whospentthemajorityofthisbook’screationinhermama’sbelly.

Preface

ThestoryofhowIgotstartedwithLaravelisacommonone:IhadwrittenPHPforyears,butIwasonmywayoutthedoor,pursuingthepowerofRailsandothermodernwebframeworks.Railsinparticularhadalivelycommunity,aperfectcombinationofopinionateddefaultsandflexibility,andthepowerofRubyGemstoleverageprepackagedcommoncode.

Somethingkeptmefromjumpingship,andIwasgladforthatwhenIfoundLaravel.ItofferedeverythingIwasdrawntoinRails,butitwasn’tjustaRailsclone;thiswasaninnovativeframeworkwithincredibledocumentation,awelcomingcommunity,andclearinfluencesfrommanylanguagesandframeworks.

SincethatdayI’vebeenabletosharemyjourneyoflearningLaravelthroughbloggingandspeakingatconferences;I’vewrittendozensofappsinLaravelforsideandworkprojects,andI’vemetthousandsofLaraveldevelopersonlineandinperson.Ihaveplentyoftoolsinmytoolkitatourconsultancy,butIamhonestlyhappiestwhenIsitdowninfrontofacommandlineandtypelaravelnewproject.

WhatThisBookIsAboutThisisnotthefirstbookaboutLaravel,anditwon’tbethelast.Idon’tintendforthistobeabookthatcoverseverylineofcodeoreveryimplementationpattern.Idon’twantthistobethesortofbookthatgoesoutofdatewhenanewversionofLaravelisreleased.Instead,itsprimarypurposeistoprovidedeveloperswithahigh-leveloverviewandconcreteexamplestolearnwhattheyneedtogetstarted,asquicklyaspossible.Ratherthanmirroringthedocs,IwanttohelpyouunderstandthefoundationalconceptsbehindLaravel.

LaravelisapowerfulandflexiblePHPframework.Ithasathrivingcommunityandawideecosystemoftools,andasaresultit’sgrowinginappealandreach.ThisbookisfordeveloperswhoalreadyknowhowtomakewebsitesandapplicationsandwanttoquicklylearnhowtodosoinLaravel.

Laravel’sdocumentationisthoroughandexcellent.IfyoufindthatIdon’tcoveranyparticulartopicdeeplyenoughforyourliking,Iencourageyoutovisittheonlinedocumentationanddigdeeperintothatparticulartopic.

Ithinkyouwillfindthebookacomfortablebalancebetweenhigh-levelintroductionandconcreteapplication,andbytheendyoushouldfeelcomfortablewritinganentireapplicationinLaravel,fromscratch.And,ifIdidmyjobwell,you’llbeexcitedtotry.

http://laravel.com/docs

WhoThisBookIsForThisbookassumesknowledgeofbasicobject-orientedprogrammingpractices,PHP(oratleastthegeneralsyntaxofC-familylanguages),andthebasicconceptsoftheModel–View–Controller(MVC)patternandtemplating.Ifyou’venevermadeawebsitebefore,youmayfindyourselfinoveryourhead.Butaslongasyouhavesomeprogrammingexperience,youdon’thavetoknowanythingaboutLaravelbeforeyoureadthisbook—we’llcovereverythingyouneedtoknow,fromthesimplest“Hello,world!”

Laravelcanrunonanyoperatingsystem,buttherewillbesomeBash(shell)commandsinthebookthatareeasiesttorunonLinux/MacOS.WindowsusersmayhaveahardertimewiththesecommandsandwithmodernPHPdevelopment,butifyoufollowtheinstructionstogetHomestead(aLinuxvirtualmachine)running,you’llbeabletorunallofthecommandsfromthere.

HowThisBookIsStructuredThisbookisstructuredinwhatIimaginetobeachronologicalorder:ifyou’rebuildingyourfirstwebappwithLaravel,theearlychapterscoverthefoundationalcomponentsyou’llneedtogetstarted,andthelaterchapterscoverlessfoundationalormoreesotericfeatures.

Eachsectionofthebookcanbereadonitsown,butforsomeonenewtotheframework,I’vetriedtostructurethechapterssothatit’sactuallyveryreasonabletostartfromthebeginningandreaduntiltheend.

Whereapplicable,eachchapterwillendwithtwosections:“Testing”and“TL;DR.”Ifyou’renotfamiliar,TL;DRmeans“toolong;didn’tread.”Thesefinalsectionswillshowyouhowtowritetestsforthefeaturescoveredineachchapterandgiveahigh-leveloverviewofwhatwascovered.

ThebookiswrittenforLaravel5.3,butbecauseLaravel5.1isthelatestLTSrelease,anyfeaturesthatarenewin5.2or5.3willbeidentified.

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AcknowledgmentsThisbookwouldnothavehappenedwithoutthegracioussupportofmyamazingwifeTerevaortheunderstanding(“Daddy’swriting,buddy!”)ofmysonMalachi.Andwhileshewasn’texplicitlyawareofit,mydaughterMiawasaroundforalmosttheentirecreationofthebook,sothisbookisdedicatedtothewholefamily.Thereweremany,manylongeveninghoursandweekendStarbuckstripsthattookmeawayfrommyfamily,andIcouldn’tbemoregratefulfortheirsupportandalsotheirpresencejustmakingmylifeawesome.

Additionally,theentireTightenCo.familyhassupportedandencouragedmethroughthewritingofthebook,severalevenediting(KeithDamiani,editorextraordinaire)andhelpingmewithchallengingcodesamples(AdamWathan,KingoftheCollectionPipeline).DanSheetz,mypartnerinTightencrime,hasbeengraciousenoughtowatchmewhileawaymanyaworkhourcrankingonthisbookandwasnothingbutsupportiveandencouraging;andDaveHicking,ouroperationsmanager,helpedmearrangemyscheduleandworkresponsibilitiesaroundwritingtime.

TaylorOtwelldeservesthanksandhonorforcreatingLaravel—andthereforecreatingsomanyjobsandhelpingsomanydevelopersloveourlivesthatmuchmore.Hedeservesappreciationforhowhe’sfocusedondeveloperhappinessandhowhardhe’sworkedtohaveempathyfordevelopersandtobuildapositiveandencouragingcommunity.ButIalsowanttothankhimforbeingakind,encouraging,andchallengingfriend.Taylor,you’reaboss.

ThankstoJeffreyWay,whoIstillcontendtobeoneofthebestteachersontheInternet.HeoriginallyintroducedmetoLaravelandstillintroducesmorepeopleeveryday.He’salso,unsurprisingly,afantastichumanbeingwhomI’mgladtocallafriend.

ThankyoutoJessD’Amico,ShawnMcCool,IanLandsman,andTaylorforseeingvalueinmeasaconferencespeakerearlyonandgivingmeaplatformtoteachfrom.ThankstoDayleReesformakingitsoeasyforsomanytolearnLaravelintheearlydays.

ThankstoeverypersonwhoputtheirtimeandeffortintowritingblogpostsaboutLaravel,especiallyearlyon:EricBarnes,ChrisFidao,MattMachuga,JasonLewis,RyanTablada,DriesVints,MaksSurguy,andsomanymore.

AndthankstotheentirecommunityoffriendsonTwitter,IRC,andSlackwho’veinteractedwithmeovertheyears.IwishIcouldnameeveryname,butIwouldmisssomeandthenfeelawfulaboutmissingthem.Youallarebrilliant,andI’mhonoredtogettointeractwithyouonaregularbasis.

ThankstomyO’Reillyeditor,AllyMacDonald,andallofmytechnicaleditors:KeithDamiani,MichaelDyrynda,AdamFairholm,andMylesHyson.

And,ofcourse,thankstotherestofmyfamilyandfriends,whosupportedmedirectlyorindirectlythroughthisprocess—myparentsandsiblings,theGainesvillecommunity,otherbusinessownersandauthors,otherconferencespeakers,andtheinimitableDCB.Ineedto

stopwritingbecausebythetimeIrunoutofspacehereI’llbethankingmyStarbucksbaristas.

Chapter1.WhyLaravel?

Intheearlydaysofthedynamicweb,writingawebapplicationlookedalotdifferentthanitdoestoday.Developersthenwereresponsibleforwritingthecodefornotjusttheuniquebusinesslogicofourapplications,butalsoeachofthecomponentsthataresocommonacrosssites—userauthentication,inputvalidation,databaseaccess,templating,andmore.

Today,programmershavedozensofapplicationdevelopmentframeworksandthousandsofcomponentsandlibrarieseasilyaccessible.It’sacommonrefrainamongprogrammersthat,bythetimeyoulearnoneframework,threenewer(andpurportedlybetter)frameworkshavepoppedupintendingtoreplaceit.

“Justbecauseit’sthere”mightbeavalidjustificationforclimbingamountain,buttherearebetterreasonstochoosetouseaspecificframework—ortouseaframeworkatall.It’sworthaskingthequestion:whyframeworks?Morespecifically,whyLaravel?

WhyUseaFramework?It’seasytoseewhyit’sbeneficialtousetheindividualcomponents,orpackages,thatareavailabletoPHPdevelopers.Withpackages,someoneelseisresponsiblefordevelopingandmaintaininganisolatedpieceofcodethathasawell-definedjob,andintheorythatpersonhasadeeperunderstandingofthissinglecomponentthanyouhavetimetohave.

FrameworkslikeLaravel—andSymfony,Silex,Lumen,andSlim—prepackageacollectionofthird-partycomponentstogetherwithcustomframework“glue”likeconfigurationfiles,serviceproviders,prescribeddirectorystructures,andapplicationbootstraps.So,thebenefitofusingaframeworkingeneralisthatsomeonehasmadedecisionsnotjustaboutindividualcomponentsforyou,butalsoabouthowthosecomponentsshouldfittogether.

“I’llJustBuildItMyself”Let’ssayyoustartanewwebappwithoutthebenefitofaframework.Wheredoyoubegin?Well,itshouldprobablyrouteHTTPrequests,soyounowneedtoevaluatealloftheHTTPrequestandresponselibrariesavailableandpickone.Thenarouter.Oh,andyou’llprobablyneedtosetupsomeformofroutesconfigurationfile.Whatsyntaxshouldituse?Whereshoulditgo?Whataboutcontrollers?Wheredotheylive,andhowaretheyloaded?Well,youprobablyneedadependencyinjectioncontainertoresolvethecontrollersandtheirdependencies.Butwhichone?

Furthermore,whatifyoudotakethetimetoanswerallthosequestionsandsuccessfullycreateyourapplication—what’stheimpactonthenextdeveloper?Whataboutwhenyouhavefoursuchcustom-framework–basedapplications,oradozen,andyouhavetorememberwherethecontrollersliveineach,orwhattheroutingsyntaxis?

ConsistencyandFlexibilityFrameworksaddressthisissuebyprovidingacarefullyconsideredanswertothequestion“Whichcomponentshouldweusehere?”andensuringthattheparticularcomponentschosenworkwelltogether.Additionally,frameworksprovideconventionsthatreducetheamountofcodeadevelopernewtotheprojecthastounderstand—ifyouunderstandhowroutingworksinoneLaravelproject,forexample,youunderstandhowitworksinallLaravelprojects.

Whensomeoneprescribesrollingyourownframeworkforeachnewproject,whatthey’rereallyadvocatingistheabilitytocontrolwhatdoesanddoesn’tgointoyourapplication’sfoundation.Thatmeansthebestframeworkswillnotonlyprovideyouwithasolidfoundation,butalsogiveyouthefreedomtocustomizetoyourheart’scontent.Andthis,asI’llshowyouintherestofthisbook,ispartofwhatmakesLaravelsospecial.

AShortHistoryofWebandPHPFrameworksAnimportantpartofbeingabletoanswerthequestion“WhyLaravel?”isunderstandingLaravel’shistory—andunderstandingwhatcamebeforeit.PriortoLaravel’sriseinpopularity,therewereavarietyofframeworksandothermovementsinPHPandotherwebdevelopmentspaces.

RubyonRailsDavidHeinemeierHanssonreleasedthefirstversionofRubyonRailsin2004,andit’sbeenhardtofindawebapplicationframeworksincethenthathasn’tbeeninfluencedbyRailsinsomeway.

RailspopularizedMVC,RESTfulJSONAPIs,conventionoverconfiguration,ActiveRecord,andmanymoretoolsandconventionsthathadaprofoundinfluenceonthewaywebdevelopersapproachedtheirapplications—especiallywithregardtorapidapplicationdevelopment.

TheInfluxofPHPFrameworksItwascleartomostdevelopersthatRails,andsimilarwebapplicationframeworks,werethewaveofthefuture,andPHPframeworks,includingthoseadmittedlyimitatingRails,startingpoppingupquickly.

CakePHPwasthefirstin2005,anditwassoonfollowedbySymfony,CodeIgniter,ZendFramework,andKohana(aCodeIgniterfork).Yiiarrivedin2008,andAuraandSlimin2010.2011broughtFuelPHPandLaravel,bothofwhichwerenotquiteCodeIgniteroffshoots,butinsteadproposedasalternatives.

SomeoftheseframeworksweremoreRails-y,focusingondatabaseobject-relationalmappers(ORMs),MVCstructures,andothertoolstargetingrapiddevelopment.Others,likeSymfonyandZend,focusedmoreonenterprisedesignpatternsandecommerce.

TheGoodandtheBadofCodeIgniterCakePHPandCodeIgniterwerethetwoearlyPHPframeworksthatweremostopenabouthowmuchtheirinspirationwasdrawnfromRails.CodeIgniterquicklyrosetofameandby2010wasarguablythemostpopularoftheindependentPHPframeworks.

CodeIgniterwassimple,easytouse,andboastedamazingdocumentationandastrongcommunity.Butitsuseofmoderntechnologyandpatternsadvancedslowly,andastheframeworkworldgrewandPHP’stoolingadvanced,CodeIgniterstartedfallingbehindintermsofbothtechnologicaladvancesandout-of-the-boxfeatures.Unlikemanyotherframeworks,CodeIgniterwasmanagedbyacompany,andtheywereslowtocatchupwithPHP5.3’snewerfeatureslikenamespacesandthemovestoGitHubandlaterComposer.Itwasin2010thatTaylorOtwell,Laravel’screator,becamedissatisfiedenoughwithCodeIgniterthathesetofftowritehisownframework.

Laravel1,2,and3ThefirstbetaofLaravel1wasreleasedinJune2011,anditwaswrittencompletelyfromscratch.ItfeaturedacustomORM(Eloquent);closure-basedrouting(inspiredbyRubySinatra);amodulesystemforextension;andhelpersforforms,validation,authentication,andmore.

EarlyLaraveldevelopmentmovedquickly,andLaravel2and3werereleasedinNovember2011andFebruary2012,respectively.Theyintroducedcontrollers,unittesting,acommand-linetool,aninversionofcontrol(IoC)container,Eloquentrelationships,andmigrations.

Laravel4WithLaravel4,Taylorrewrotetheentireframeworkfromthegroundup.BythispointComposer,PHP’snow-ubiquitouspackagemanager,wasshowingsignsofbecominganindustrystandardandTaylorsawthevalueofrewritingtheframeworkasacollectionofcomponents,distributedandbundledtogetherbyComposer.

TaylordevelopedasetofcomponentsunderthecodenameIlluminateand,inMay2013,releasedLaravel4withanentirelynewstructure.Insteadofbundlingthemajorityofitscodeasadownload,LaravelnowpulledinthemajorityofitscomponentsfromSymfony(anotherframeworkthatreleaseditscomponentsforusebyothers)andtheIlluminatecomponentsthroughComposer.

Laravel4alsointroducedqueues,amailcomponent,facades,anddatabaseseeding.AndbecauseLaravelwasnowrelyingonSymfonycomponents,itwasannouncedthatLaravelwouldbemirroring(notexactly,butsoonafter)thesix-monthlyreleasescheduleSymfonyfollows.

Laravel5Laravel4.3wasscheduledtoreleaseinNovember2014,butasdevelopmentprogressed,itbecameclearthatthesignificanceofitschangesmeritedamajorrelease,andLaravel5wasreleasedinFebruary2015.

Laravel5featuredarevampeddirectorystructure,removaloftheformandHTMLhelpers,theintroductionofthecontractinterfaces,aspateofnewviews,Socialiteforsocialmediaauthentication,Elixirforassetcompilation,Schedulertosimplifycron,dotenvforsimplifiedenvironmentmanagement,formrequests,andabrandnewREPL(read–evaluate–printloop).

What’sSoSpecialAboutLaravel?SowhatisitthatsetsLaravelapart?WhyisitworthhavingmorethanonePHPframeworkatanytime?TheyallusecomponentsfromSymfonyanyway,right?Let’stalkabitaboutwhatmakesLaravel“tick.”

ThePhilosophyofLaravelYouonlyneedtoreadthroughtheLaravelmarketingmaterialsandREADMEstostartseeingitsvalues.Tayloruseslight-relatedwordslike“Illuminate”and“Spark.”Andthentherearethese:“Artisans.”“Elegant.”Also,these:“Breathoffreshair.”“Freshstart.”Andfinally:“Rapid.”“Warpspeed.”

Thetwomoststronglycommunicatedvaluesoftheframeworkaretoincreasedeveloperspeedanddeveloperhappiness.Taylorhasdescribedthe“Artisan”languageasintentionallycontrastingagainstmoreutilitarianvalues.Youcanseethegenesisofthissortofthinkinginhis2011questiononStackExchangeinwhichhestated,“SometimesIspendridiculousamountsoftime(hours)agonizingovermakingcodelookpretty”—justforthesakeofabetterexperienceoflookingatthecodeitself.Andhe’softentalkedaboutthevalueofmakingiteasierandquickerfordeveloperstotaketheirideastofruition,gettingridofunnecessarybarrierstocreatinggreatproducts.

Laravelis,atitscore,aboutequippingandenablingdevelopers.Itsgoalistoprovideclear,simple,andbeautifulcodeandfeaturesthathelpdevelopersquicklylearn,start,anddevelop,andwritecodethat’ssimple,clear,andwilllast.

TheconceptoftargetingdevelopersisclearacrossLaravelmaterials.“Happydevelopersmakethebestcode”iswritteninthedocumentation.“Developerhappinessfromdownloadtodeploy”wastheunofficialsloganforawhile.Ofcourse,anytoolorframeworkwillsayitwantsdeveloperstobehappy.Buthavingdeveloperhappinessasaprimaryconcern,ratherthansecondary,hashadahugeimpactonLaravel’sstyleanddecision-makingprogress.Whereotherframeworksmaytargetarchitecturalpurityastheirprimarygoal,orcompatibilitywiththegoalsandvaluesofenterprisedevelopmentteams,Laravel’sprimaryfocusisonservingtheindividualdeveloper.

http://bit.ly/2dT5kmS

HowLaravelAchievesDeveloperHappinessJustsayingyouwanttomakedevelopershappyisonething.Doingitisanother,anditrequiresyoutoquestionwhatinaframeworkismostlikelytomakedevelopersunhappyandwhatismostlikelytomakethemhappy.ThereareafewwaysLaraveltriestomakedevelopers’liveseasier.

First,Laravelisarapidapplicationdevelopmentframework.Thatmeansitfocusesonashallow(easy)learningcurveandonminimizingthestepsbetweenstartinganewappandpublishingit.Allofthemostcommontasksinbuildingwebapplications,fromdatabaseinteractionstoauthenticationtoqueuestoemailtocaching,aremadesimplerbythecomponentsLaravelprovides.ButLaravel’scomponentsaren’tjustgreatontheirown;theyprovideaconsistentAPIandpredictablestructuresacrosstheentireframework.Thatmeansthat,whenyou’retryingsomethingnewinLaravel,you’remorethanlikelygoingtoendupsaying,“…anditjustworks.”

Thisdoesn’tendattheframeworkitself,either.Laravelprovidesanentireecosystemoftoolsforbuildingandlaunchingapplications.YouhaveHomesteadandValetforlocaldevelopment,Forgeforservermanagement,andEnvoyerforadvanceddeployment.Andthere’sasuiteofadd-onpackages:Cashierforpaymentsandsubscriptions,EchoforWebSockets,Scoutforsearch,PassportforAPIauthentication,Socialiteforsociallogin,andSparktobootstrapyourSaaS.Laravelistryingtotaketherepetitiveworkoutofdevelopers’jobssotheycandosomethingunique.

Next,Laravelfocuseson“conventionoverconfiguration”—meaningthatifyou’rewillingtouseLaravel’sdefaults,you’llhavetodomuchlessworkthanwithotherframeworksthatrequireyoutodeclareallofyoursettingsevenifyou’reusingtherecommendedconfiguration.ProjectsbuiltonLaraveltakelesstimethanthosebuiltonmostotherPHPframeworks.

Laravelalsofocusesdeeplyonsimplicity.It’spossibletousedependencyinjectionandmockingandtheDataMapperpatternandrepositoriesandCommandQueryResponsibilitySegregationandallsortsofothermorecomplexarchitecturalpatternswithLaravel,ifyouwant.Butwhileotherframeworksmightsuggestusingthosetoolsandstructuresoneveryproject,Laravelanditsdocumentationandcommunityleantowardstartingwiththesimplestpossibleimplementation—aglobalfunctionhere,afacadethere,ActiveRecordoverthere.Thisallowsdeveloperstocreatethesimplestpossibleapplicationtosolvefortheirneeds.

AninterestingsourceofhowLaravelisdifferentisthatitscreatoranditscommunityaremoreconnectedtoandinspiredbyRubyandRailsandfunctionalprogramminglanguagesthanbyJava.There’sastrongcurrentinmodernPHPtoleantowardverbosityandcomplexity,embracingthemoreJava-esqueaspectsofPHP.ButLaraveltendstobeontheotherside,embracingexpressive,dynamic,andsimplecodingpracticesandlanguagefeatures.

TheLaravelCommunityIfthisbookisyourfirstexposuretotheLaravelcommunity,youhavesomethingspecialtolookforwardto.OneofthedistinguishingelementsofLaravel,whichhascontributedtoitsgrowthandsuccess,isthewelcoming,teachingcommunitythatsurroundsit.FromJeffreyWay’sLaracastsvideotutorialstoLaravelNewstoSlackandIRCchannels,fromTwitterfriendstobloggerstotheLaraconconferences,Laravelhasarichandvibrantcommunityfulloffolkswho’vebeenaroundsincedayoneandfolkswhoareontheirowndayone.Andthisisn’tanaccident:

FromtheverybeginningofLaravel,I’vehadthisideathatallpeoplewanttofeelliketheyarepartofsomething.It’sanaturalhumaninstincttowanttobelongandbeacceptedintoagroupofotherlike-mindedpeople.So,byinjectingpersonalityintoawebframeworkandbeingreallyactivewiththecommunity,thattypeoffeelingcangrowinthecommunity.TaylorOtwell,ProductandSupportinterview

TaylorunderstoodfromtheearlydaysofLaravelthatasuccessfulopensourceprojectneededtwothings:gooddocumentationandawelcomingcommunity.AndthosetwothingsarenowhallmarksofLaravel.

https://laracasts.com/https://laravel-news.com/

HowItWorksUpuntilnow,everythingI’vesharedherehasbeenentirelyabstract.Whataboutthecode,youask?Let’sdigintoasimpleapplication(Example1-1)soyoucanseewhatworkingwithLaravelday-to-dayisactuallylike.

Example1-1.“Hello,World”inroutes/web.php//File:routes/web.php

Route::get('/',function(){returnGreeting::first()->body;});//File:app/Greeting.php

WhyLaravel?So—whyLaravel?

BecauseLaravelhelpsyoubringyourideastorealitywithnowastedcode,usingmoderncodingstandards,surroundedbyavibrantcommunity,withanempoweringecosystemoftools.

Andbecauseyou,deardeveloper,deservetobehappy.

Chapter2.SettingUpaLaravelDevelopmentEnvironment

PartofPHP’ssuccesshasbeenbecauseit’shardtofindawebserverthatcan’tservePHP.However,modernPHPtoolshavestricterrequirementsthanthoseofthepast.ThebestwaytodevelopforLaravelistoensureaconsistentlocalandremoteserverenvironmentforyourcode,andthankfully,theLaravelecosystemhasafewtoolsforthis.

SystemRequirementsEverythingwe’llcoverinthischapterispossiblewithWindowsmachines,butyou’llneeddozensofpagesofcustominstructionsandcaveats.I’llleavethoseinstructionsandcaveatstoactualWindowsusers,sotheexampleshereandintherestofthebookwillfocusonUnix/Linux/MacOSdevelopers.

WhetheryouchoosetoserveyourwebsitebyinstallingPHPandothertoolsonyourlocalmachine,serveyourdevelopmentenvironmentfromavirtualmachineviaVagrant,orrelyonatoollikeMAMP/WAMP/XAMPP,yourdevelopmentenvironmentwillneedtohaveallofthefollowinginstalledinordertoserveLaravelsites:

PHP>=5.6.4forLaravel5.3orPHP>=5.5.9for5.1and5.2

OpenSSLPHPextension

PDOPHPextension

MbstringPHPextension

TokenizerPHPextension

ComposerWhatevermachineyou’redevelopingonwillneedtohaveComposerinstalledglobally.Ifyou’renotfamiliarwithComposer,it’satoolthat’satthefoundationofmostmodernPHPdevelopment.ComposerisadependencymanagerforPHP,muchlikeNPMforNodeorRubyGemsforRuby.You’llneedComposertoinstallLaravel,updateLaravel,andbringinexternaldependencies.

https://getcomposer.org/

LocalDevelopmentEnvironmentsFormanyprojects,hostingyourdevelopmentenvironmentusingasimplertoolsetwillbeenough.IfyoualreadyhaveMAMPorWAMPorXAMPPinstalledonyoursystem,thatwilllikelybefinetorunLaravel.YoucanalsojustrunLaravelwithPHP’sbuilt-inwebserver,assumingyoursystemPHPistherightversion.

AllyoureallyneedtogetstartedistheabilitytorunPHP.Everythingpastthatisuptoyou.

However,Laravelofferstwotoolsforlocaldevelopment,ValetandHomestead,andwe’llcoverbothbriefly.Ifyou’reunsureofwhichtouse,I’drecommendusingValetandjustskimmingtheHomesteadsection;however,bothtoolsarevaluableandworthunderstanding.

LaravelValetIfyouwanttousePHP’sbuilt-inwebserver,yoursimplestoptionistoserveeverysitefromalocalhostURL.Ifyourunphp-Slocalhost:8000-tpublicfromyourLaravelsite’srootfolder,PHP’sbuilt-inwebserverwillserveyoursiteathttp://localhost:8000/.Youcanalsorunphpartisanserveonceyouhaveyourapplicationsetuptoeasilyspinupanequivalentserver.

Butifyou’reinterestedintyingeachofyoursitestoaspecificdevelopmentdomain,you’llneedtogetcomfortablewithyouroperatingsystem’shostsfileanduseatoollikednsmasq.Let’sinsteadtrysomethingsimpler.

Ifyou’reaMacuser(therearealsounofficialforksforWindowsandLinux),LaravelValettakesawaytheneedtoconnectyourdomainstoyourapplicationfolders.ValetinstallsdnsmasqandaseriesofPHPscriptsthatmakeitpossibletotypelaravelnewmyapp&&openmyapp.devandforittojustwork.You’llneedtoinstallafewtoolsusingHomebrew,whichthedocumentationwillwalkyouthrough,butthestepsfrominitialinstallationtoservingyourappsarefewandsimple.

InstallValet(seethedocsforthelatestinstallationinstruction—it’sunderveryactivedevelopmentatthistimeofwriting),andpointitatoneormoredirectorieswhereyoursiteswilllive.Iranvaletparkfrommy~/Sitesdirectory,whichiswhereIputallofmyunder-developmentapps.Now,youcanjustadd.devtotheendofthedirectorynameandvisititinyourbrowser.

Valetmakesiteasytoserveallfoldersinagivenfolderas“FOLDERNAME.dev”usingvaletpark,toservejustasinglefolderusingvaletlink,toopentheValet-serveddomainforafolderusingvaletopen,toservetheValetsitewithHTTPSusingvaletsecure,andtoopenanngroktunnelsoyoucanshareyoursitewithotherswithvaletshare.

http://bit.ly/2eNPJ5Thttps://laravel.com/docs/valethttps://laravel.com/docs/valet

LaravelHomesteadHomesteadisanothertoolyoumightwanttousetosetupyourlocaldevelopmentenvironment.It’saconfigurationtoolthatsitsontopofVagrantandprovidesapre-configuredvirtualmachineimagethatisperfectlysetupforLaraveldevelopment,andmirrorsthemostcommonproductionenvironmentthatmanyLaravelsitesrunon.

SettingupHomesteadIfyouchoosetouseHomestead,it’sgoingtotakeabitmoreworktosetupthansomethinglikeMAMPorValet.Thebenefitsaremyriad,however:configuredcorrectly,yourlocalenvironmentcanbeincrediblyclosetoyourremoteworkingenvironment;youwon’thavetoworryaboutupdatingyourdependenciesonyourlocalmachine;andyoucanlearnallaboutthestructureofUbuntuserversfromthesafetyofyourlocalmachine.

WHATTOOLSDOHOMESTEADOFFER?

YoucanalwaysupgradetheindividualcomponentsofyourHomesteadvirtualmachine,buthereareafewimportanttoolsHomesteadcomeswithbydefault:

Toruntheserverandservethesite,Ubuntu,PHP,andNginx(awebserversimilartoApache).

Fordatabase/storageandqueues,MySQL,Postgres,Redis,Memcached,andbeanstalkd.

Forbuildstepsandothertools,Node.

InstallingHomestead’sdependenciesFirst,you’llneedtodownloadandinstalleitherVirtualBoxorVMWare.VirtualBoxismostcommonbecauseit’sfree.

Next,downloadandinstallVagrant.

Vagrantisconvenientbecauseitmakesiteasyforyoutocreateanewlocalvirtualmachinefromaprecreated“box,”whichisessentiallyatemplateforavirtualmachine.So,thenextstepistorunvagrantboxaddlaravel/homesteadfromyourterminaltodownloadthebox.

InstallingHomesteadNext,let’sactuallyinstallHomestead.YoucaninstallmultipleinstancesofHomestead(perhapshostingadifferentHomesteadboxperproject),butIpreferasingleHomesteadvirtualmachineforallofmyprojects.Ifyouwantoneperproject,you’llwanttoinstallHomesteadinyourprojectdirectory;checktheHomesteaddocumentationonlineforinstructions.Ifyouwantasinglevirtualmachineforallofyourprojects,installHomesteadinyouruser ’shomedirectoryusingthefollowingcommand:

gitclonehttps://github.com/laravel/homestead.git~/Homestead

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloadshttps://www.vagrantup.com/downloads.htmlhttps://laravel.com/docs/5.3/homestead

Now,runtheinitializationscriptfromwhereveryouputtheHomesteaddirectory:

bash~/Homestead/init.sh

ThiswillplaceHomestead’sprimaryconfigurationfile,Homestead.yaml,inanew~/.homesteaddirectory.

ConfiguringHomesteadOpenupHomestead.yamlandconfigureithowyou’dlike.Here’swhatitlookslikeoutofthebox:

ip:"192.168.10.10"memory:2048cpus:1provider:virtualbox

authorize:~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

keys:-~/.ssh/id_rsa

folders:-map:~/Codeto:/home/vagrant/Code

sites:-map:homestead.appto:/home/vagrant/Code/Laravel/public

databases:-homestead

#blackfire:#-id:foo#token:bar#client-id:foo#client-token:bar

#ports:#-send:50000#to:5000#-send:7777#to:777#protocol:udp

You’llneedtotellityourprovider(likelyvirtualbox),pointittoyourpublicSSHkey(bydefault~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub;ifyoudon’thaveone,GitHubhasagreattutorialoncreatingSSHkeys),mapfoldersandsitestotheirlocalmachineequivalents,andprovisionadatabase.

MappingfoldersinHomesteadallowsyoutoeditfilesonyourlocalmachineandhavethosefilesshowupinyourVagrantboxsotheycanbeserved.Forexample,ifyouhavea~/Sitesdirectorywhereyouputallofyourcode,you’dmapthefoldersinHomesteadbyreplacingthefolderssectioninHomestead.yamlwiththefollowing:

folders:-map:~/Sitesto:/home/vagrant/Sites

http://bit.ly/2e7Auof

You’venowjustcreatedadirectoryinyourHomesteadvirtualmachineat/home/vagrant/Sitesthatwillmirroryourcomputer ’sdirectoryat~/Sites.

TOP-LEVELDOMAINSFORDEVELOPMENTSITESYoucanchooseanyconventionforlocaldevelopmentsites’URLs,but.appand.devarethemostcommon.Homesteadsuggests.app,soifI’mworkingonalocalcopyofsymposiumapp.com,I’lldevelopatsymposiumapp.app.

Now,let’ssetupourfirstexamplewebsite.Let’ssayourlivesiteisgoingtobeprojectName.com.InHomestead.yaml,we’llmapourlocaldevelopmentfoldertoprojectName.app,sowehaveaseparateURLtovisitforlocaldevelopment:

sites:-map:projectName.appto:/home/vagrant/Sites/projectName/public

Asyoucansee,we’remappingtheURLprojectName.apptothevirtualmachinedirectory/home/vagrant/Sites/projectName/public,whichisthepublicfolderwithinourLaravelinstall.We’lllearnmoreaboutthatlater.

Finally,you’regoingtoneedtoteachyourlocalmachinethat,whenyoutrytovisitprojectName.app,itshouldlookatyourcomputer ’slocalIPaddresstoresolveit.MacandLinuxusersshouldedit/etc/hosts,andWindowsusersC:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.Addalinetothisfilethatlookslikethis:

192.168.10.10projectName.app

Onceyou’veprovisionedHomestead,yoursitewillbeavailabletobrowse(onyourmachine)athttp://projectName.app/.

CreatingdatabasesinHomesteadJustlikeyoucandefineasiteinHomestead.yaml,youcanalsodefineadatabase.Databasesarealotsimpler,becauseyou’reonlytellingtheprovisionertocreateadatabasewiththatname,nothingelse.Wedothisasfollows:

databases:-projectname

ProvisioningHomesteadThefirsttimeyouactuallyturnonaHomesteadbox,youneedtotellVagranttoinitializeit.NavigatetoyourHomesteaddirectoryandrunvagrantup:

cd~/Homesteadvagrantup

YourHomesteadboxisnowupandrunning;it’smirroringalocalfolder,andit’sservingittoaURLyoucanvisitinanybrowseronyourcomputer.ItalsohascreatedaMySQL

http://projectName.app/

database.Nowthatyouhavethatenvironmentrunning,you’rereadytosetupyourfirstLaravelproject—butfirst,aquicknoteaboutusingHomesteadday-to-day.

UsingHomesteadday-to-dayIt’scommontoleaveyourHomesteadvirtualmachineupandrunningatalltimes,butifyoudon’t,orifyouhaverecentlyrestartedyourcomputer,you’llneedtoknowhowtospintheboxupanddown.

SinceHomesteadisbasedonVagrantcommands,you’lljustusebasicVagrantcommandsformostHomesteadactions.ChangetothedirectorywhereyouinstalledHomestead(usingcd)andthenrunthefollowingcommandsasneeded:

vagrantupspinsuptheHomesteadbox.

vagrantsuspendtakesasnapshotofwheretheboxisandthenshutsitdown;like“hibernating”adesktopmachine.

vagranthaltshutstheentireboxdown;liketurningoffadesktopmachine.

vagrantdestroydeletestheentirebox;likeformattingadesktopmachine.

vagrantprovisionre-runstheprovisionersonthepreexistingbox.

ConnectingtoHomesteaddatabasesfromdesktopapplicationsIfyouuseadesktopapplicationlikeSequelPro,you’lllikelywanttoconnecttoyourHomesteadMySQLdatabasesfromyourhostmachine.Thesesettingswillgetyougoing:

Connectiontype:Standard(non-SSH)

Host:127.0.0.1

Username:homestead

Password:secret

Port:33060

CreatingaNewLaravelProjectTherearetwowaystocreateanewLaravelproject,butbotharerunfromthecommandline.ThefirstoptionistogloballyinstalltheLaravelinstallertool(usingComposer);thesecondistouseComposer ’screate-projectfeature.

YoucanlearnaboutbothoptionsinmoredetailontheInstallationdocumentationpage,butI’drecommendtheLaravelinstallertool.

http://laravel.com/docs/installation

InstallingLaravelwiththeLaravelInstallerToolIfyouhaveComposerinstalledglobally,installingtheLaravelinstallertoolisassimpleasrunningthefollowingcommand:

composerglobalrequire"laravel/installer=~1.1"

OnceyouhavetheLaravelinstallertoolinstalled,spinningupanewLaravelprojectissimple.Justrunthiscommandfromyourcommandline:

laravelnewprojectName

ThiswillcreateanewsubdirectoryofyourcurrentdirectorynamedprojectNameandinstallabareLaravelprojectinit.

InstallingLaravelwithComposer’screate-projectFeatureComposeralsooffersafeaturecalledcreate-projectforcreatingnewprojectswithaparticularskeleton.TousethistooltocreateanewLaravelproject,issuethefollowingcommand:

composercreate-projectlaravel/laravelprojectName--prefer-dist

Justliketheinstallertool,thiswillcreateasubdirectoryofyourcurrentdirectorynamedprojectNamethatcontainsaskeletonLaravelinstall,readyforyoutodevelop.

Laravel’sDirectoryStructureWhenyouopenupadirectorythatcontainsaskeletonLaravelapplication,you’llseethefollowingfilesanddirectories:

app/bootstrap/config/database/public/resources/routes/storage/tests/vendor/.env.env.example.gitattributes.gitignoreartisancomposer.jsoncomposer.lockgulpfile.jspackage.jsonphpunit.xmlreadme.mdserver.php

Let’swalkthroughthemonebyonetogetfamiliar.

TheFoldersTherootdirectorycontainsthefollowingfoldersbydefault:

appiswherethebulkofyouractualapplicationwillgo.Models,controllers,routedefinitions,commands,andyourPHPdomaincodeallgoinhere.

bootstrapcontainsthefilesthattheLaravelframeworkusestobooteverytimeitruns.

configiswherealltheconfigurationfileslive.

databaseiswheredatabasemigrationsandseedslive.

publicisthedirectorytheserverpointstowhenit’sservingthewebsite.Thiscontainsindex.php,whichisthefrontcontrollerthatkicksoffthebootstrappingprocessandroutesallrequestsappropriately.It’salsowhereanypublic-facingfileslikeimages,stylesheets,scripts,ordownloadsgo.

resourcesiswherenon-PHPfilesthatareneededforotherscriptslive.Views,languagefiles,and(optionally)Sass/LESSandsourceJavaScriptfileslivehere.

routesiswherealloftheroutedefinitionslive,bothforHTTProutesand“consoleroutes,”orArtisancommands.

storageiswherecaches,logs,andcompiledsystemfileslive.

testsiswhereunitandintegrationtestslive.

vendoriswhereComposerinstallsitsdependencies.It’sGit-ignored(markedtobeexcludedfromyourversioncontrolsystem),asComposerisexpectedtorunasapartofyourdeployprocessonanyremoteservers.

TheLooseFilesTherootdirectoryalsocontainsthefollowingfiles:

.envand.env.examplearethefilesthatdictatetheenvironmentvariables(variablesthatareexpectedtobedifferentineachenvironmentandarethereforenotcommittedtoversioncontrol)..env.exampleisatemplatethateachenvironmentshouldduplicatetocreateitsown.envfile,whichisGit-ignored.

artisanisthefilethatallowsyoutorunArtisancommands(seeChapter7)fromthecommandline.

.gitignoreand.gitattributesareGitconfigurationfiles.

composer.jsonandcomposer.lockaretheconfigurationfilesforComposer;composer.jsonisuser-editableandcomposer.lockisnot.ThesefilessharesomebasicinformationaboutthisprojectandalsodefineitsPHPdependencies.

gulpfile.jsisthe(optional)configurationfileforElixirandGulp.Thisisforcompilingandprocessingyourfrontendassets.

package.jsonislikecomposer.jsonbutforfrontendassets.

phpunit.xmlisaconfigurationfileforPHPUnit,thetoolLaravelusesfortestingoutofthebox.

readme.mdisaMarkdownfilegivingabasicintroductiontoLaravel.

server.phpisabackupserverthattriestoallowless-capableserverstostillpreviewtheLaravelapplication.

ConfigurationThecoresettingsofyourLaravelapplication—databaseconnection,queueandmailsettings,etc.—liveinfilesintheconfigfolder.Eachofthesefilesreturnsanarray,andeachvalueinthearraywillbeaccessiblebyaconfigkeythatiscomprisedofthefilenameandalldescendantkeys,separatedbydots(.)

So,ifyoucreateafileatconfig/services.phpthatlookslikethis:

//config/services.phpreturn['sparkpost'=>['secret'=>'abcdefg']];

youwillnowhaveaccesstothatconfigvariableusingconfig('services.sparkpost.secret').

Anyconfigurationvariablesthatshouldbedistinctforeachenvironment(andthereforenotcommittedtosourcecontrol)willinsteadliveinyour.envfiles.Let’ssayyouwanttouseadifferentBugsnagAPIkeyforeachenvironment.You’dsettheconfigfiletopullitfrom.env:

//config/services.phpreturn['bugsnag'=>['api_key'=>env('BUGSNAG_API_KEY')]];

Thisenv()helperfunctionpullsavaluefromyour.envfilewiththatsamekey.Sonow,addthatkeytoyour.env(settingsforthisenvironment)and.env.example(templateforallenvironments)files:

BUGSNAG_API_KEY=oinfp9813410942

Your.envfilealreadycontainsquiteafewenvironment-specificvariablesneededbytheframework,likewhichmaildriveryou’llbeusingandwhatyourbasicdatabasesettingsare.

UpandRunningYou’renowupandrunningwithabareLaravelinstall.Rungitinit,committhebarefileswithgitadd.andgitcommit,andyou’rereadytostartcoding.That’sit!Andifyou’reusingValet,youcanrunthefollowingcommandsandinstantlyseeyoursiteliveinyourbrowser:

laravelnewmyProject&&cdmyProject&&valetopen

EverytimeIstartanewproject,thesearethestepsItake:

laravelnewmyProjectcdmyProjectgitinitgitadd.gitcommit-m"Initialcommit"

Ikeepallofmysitesina~/Sitesfolder,whichIhavesetupasmyprimaryValetdirectory,sointhiscaseI’dinstantlyhavemyProject.devaccessibleinmybrowserwithnoaddedwork.Icanedit.envandpointittoaparticulardatabase,addthatdatabaseinmyMySQLapp,andI’mreadytostartcoding.

LAMBOIperformthethissetofstepssooftenthatIcreatedasimpleglobalComposerpackagetodoitforme.It’scalledLambo,andyoucanlearnmoreaboutitonGitHub.

https://github.com/tightenco/lambo

TestingIneverychapterafterthis,the“Testing”sectionattheendofthechapterwillshowyouhowtowritetestsforthefeatureorfeaturesthatwerecovered.Sincethischapterdoesn’tcoveratestablefeature,let’stalktestsquickly.(TolearnmoreaboutwritingandrunningtestsinLaravel,headovertoChapter12.)

Outofthebox,LaravelbringsinPHPUnitasadependencyandisconfiguredtorunthetestsinanyfileinthetestsdirectorywhosenameendswithTest.php(forexample,tests/UserTest.php).

So,thesimplestwaytowritetestsistocreateafileinthetestsdirectorywithanamethatendswithTest.php.Andtheeasiestwaytorunthemistorun./vendor/bin/phpunitfromthecommandline(intheprojectroot).

Ifanytestsrequiredatabaseaccess,besuretorunyourtestsfromthemachinewhereyourdatabaseishosted—soifyou’rehostingyourdatabaseinVagrant,makesuretosshintoyourVagrantboxtorunyourtestsfromthere.Again,youcanlearnaboutthisandmuchmoreinChapter12.

TL;DRSinceLaravelisaPHPframework,it’sverysimpletoserveitlocally.Laravelalsoprovidestwotoolsformanagingyourlocaldevelopment:asimplertoolcalledValetthatusesyourlocalmachinetoprovideyourdependencies,andapreconfiguredVagrantsetupnamedHomestead.Laravelrelieson,andcanbeinstalledby,Composer,andcomesoutoftheboxwithaseriesoffoldersandfilesthatreflectbothitsconventionsanditsrelationshipwithotheropensourcetools.

Chapter3.RoutingandControllers

Theessentialfunctionofanywebapplicationframeworkistotakerequestsfromauseranddeliverresponses,usuallyviaHTTP(S).Thismeansdefininganapplication’sroutesisthefirstandmostimportantprojecttotacklewhenlearningawebframework;withoutroutes,youhavenoabilitytointeractwiththeenduser.

InthischapterwewillexamineroutesinLaravelandshowhowtodefinethem,howtopointthemtothecodetheyshouldexecute,andhowtouseLaravel’sroutingtoolstohandleadiversearrayofroutingneeds.

RouteDefinitionsInaLaravelapplication,youwilldefineyour“web”routesinroutes/web.phpandyour“API”routesinroutes/api.php.Webroutesarethosethatwillbevisitedbyyourendusers;APIroutesarethoseforyourAPI,ifyouhaveone.Fornow,we’llprimarilyfocusontheroutesinroutes/web.php.

NOTEInprojectsrunningversionsofLaravelpriorto5.3,therewillbeonlyoneroutesfile,locatedatapp/Http/routes.php.

Thesimplestwaytodefinearouteistomatchapath(e.g.,/)withaclosure,asseeninExample3-1.

Example3-1.Basicroutedefinition//routes/web.phpRoute::get('/',function(){return'Hello,World!';});

WHAT’SACLOSURE?

ClosuresarePHP’sversionofanonymousfunctions.Aclosureisafunctionthatyoucanpassaroundasanobject,assigntoavariable,passasaparametertootherfunctionsandmethods,orevenserialize.

You’venowdefinedthat,ifanyonevisits/(therootofyourdomain),Laravel’sroutershouldruntheclosuredefinedthereandreturntheresult.Notethatwereturnourcontentanddon’techoorprintit.

AQUICKINTRODUCTIONTOMIDDLEWAREYoumightbewondering,“WhyamIreturning‘Hello,World!’insteadofechoingit?”

Therearequiteafewanswers,butthesimplestisthattherearealotofwrappersaroundLaravel’srequestandresponsecycle,includingsomethingcalledmiddleware.Whenyourrouteclosureorcontrollermethodisdone,it’snottimetosendtheoutputtothebrowseryet;returningthecontentallowsittocontinueflowingthroughtheresponsestackandthemiddlewarebeforeitisreturnedbacktotheuser.

Manysimplewebsitescouldbedefinedentirelywithinthewebroutesfile.WithafewsimpleGETroutescombinedwithsometemplatesasillustratedinExample3-2,youcancanserveaclassicwebsiteeasily.

Example3-2.SamplewebsiteRoute::get('/',function(){returnview('welcome');});

Route::get('about',function(){returnview('about');});

Route::get('products',function(){returnview('products');});

Route::get('services',function(){returnview('services');});

STATICCALLSIfyouhavemuchexperiencedevelopingPHP,youmightbesurprisedtoseestaticcallsontheRouteclass.Thisisnotactuallyastaticmethodperse,butratherservicelocationusingLaravel’sfacades,whichwe’llcoverinChapter11.

Ifyouprefertoavoidfacades,youcanaccomplishthesesamedefinitionslikethis:

$router->get('/',function(){return'Hello,World!';});

HTTPMETHODS

Ifyou’renotfamiliarwiththeideaofHTTPmethods,readoninthischapterformoreinformation,butfornow,justknowthateveryHTTPrequesthasa“verb,”oraction,alongwithit.Laravelallowsyoutodefineyourroutesbasedonwhichverbwasused;themostcommonareGETandPOST,followedbyPUT,DELETE,andPATCH.Eachmethodcommunicatesadifferentthingtotheserver,andtoyourcode,abouttheintentionsofthecaller.

RouteVerbsYoumight’venoticedthatwe’vebeenusingRoute::getinourroutedefinitions.Thismeanswe’retellingLaraveltoonlymatchfortheserouteswhentheHTTPrequestusestheGETaction.Butwhatifit’saformPOST,ormaybesomeJavaScriptsendingPUTorDELETErequests?Thereareafewotheroptionsformethodstocallonaroutedefinition,asillustratedinExample3-3.

Example3-3.RouteverbsRoute::get('/',function(){return'Hello,World!';});

Route::post('/',function(){});

Route::put('/',function(){});

Route::delete('/',function(){});

Route::any('/',function(){});

Route::match(['get','post'],'/',function(){});

RouteHandlingAsyou’veprobablyguessed,passingaclosuretotheroutedefinitionisnottheonlywaytoteachithowtoresolvearoute.Closuresarequickandsimple,butthelargeryourapplicationgets,theclumsieritbecomestoputallofyourroutinglogicinonefile.Additionally,applicationsusingrouteclosurescan’ttakeadvantageofLaravel’sroutecaching(moreonthatlater),whichcanshaveuptohundredsofmillisecondsoffofeachrequest.

Theothercommonoptionistopassacontrollernameandmethodasastringinplaceoftheclosure,asinExample3-4.

Example3-4.RoutescallingcontrollermethodsRoute::get('/','WelcomeController@index');

ThisistellingLaraveltopassrequeststothatpathtotheindex()methodoftheApp\Http\Controllers\WelcomeControllercontroller.Thismethodwillbepassedthesameparametersandtreatedthesamewayasaclosureyoumight’vealternativelyputinitsplace.

RouteParametersIftherouteyou’redefininghasparameters—segmentsintheURLstructurethatarevariable—it’ssimpletodefinetheminyourrouteandpassthemtoyourclosure(seeExample3-5).

Example3-5.RouteparametersRoute::get('users/{id}/friends',function($id){//});

THENAMINGRELATIONSHIPBETWEENROUTEPARAMETERSANDCLOSURE/CONTROLLER METHODPARAMETERS

AsyoucanseeinExample3-5,it’smostcommontousethesamenamesforyourrouteparameters({id})andthemethodparameterstheyinjectintoyourroutedefinition(function($id)).Butisthisnecessary?

Unlessyou’reusingroute/modelbinding,no.Theonlythingthatdefineswhichrouteparametermatcheswithwhichmethodparameteristheirorder(lefttoright),asyoucanseehere:

Route::get('users/{userId}/comments/{commentId}',function($thisIsActuallyTheRouteId,$thisisReallyTheCommentId){//});

Thathavingbeensaid,justbecauseyoucanmakethemdifferentdoesn’tmeanyoushould.Irecommendkeepingthemthesameforthesakeoffuturedevelopers,whocouldgettrippedupbyinconsistentnaming.

Youcanalsomakeyourrouteparametersoptionalbyincludingaquestionmark(?)aftertheparametername,asillustratedinExample3-6.Inthiscase,youshouldalsoprovideadefaultvaluefortheroute’scorrespondingvariable.

Example3-6.OptionalrouteparametersRoute::get('users/{id?}',function($id='fallbackId'){//});

Andyoucanuseregularexpressions(regexes)todefinethatarouteshouldonlymatchifaparametermeetsparticularrequirements,asinExample3-7.

Example3-7.RegularexpressionrouteconstraintsRoute::get('users/{id}',function($id){//})->where('id','[0-9]+');

Route::get('users/{username}',function($username){//})->where('username','[A-Za-z]+');

Route::get('posts/{id}/{slug}',function($id,$slug){//})->where(['id'=>'[0-9]+','slug'=>'[A-Za-z]+']);

Asyou’veprobablyguessed,ifyouvisitapaththatmatchesaroutestring,buttheregexdoesn’tmatchtheparameter,itwon’tbematched.Sinceroutesarematchedtoptobottom,

users/abcwouldskipthefirstclosureinExample3-7,butitwouldbematchedbythesecondclosure,soitwouldgetroutedthere.Ontheotherhand,posts/abc/123wouldn’tmatchanyoftheclosures,soitwouldreturna404NotFounderror.

RouteNamesThesimplestwaytorefertotheserouteselsewhereinyourapplicationisjustbytheirpath.There’saurl()helpertosimplifythatlinkinginyourviews,ifyouneedit;seeExample3-8foranexample.Thehelperwillprefixyourroutewiththefulldomainofyoursite.

Example3-8.URLhelper

DEFININGCUSTOMROUTESINLARAVEL5.1Fluentroutedefinitionsdon’texistinLaravel5.1.You’llneedtoinsteadpassanarraytothesecondparameterofyourroutedefinition;checktheLaraveldocstoseemoreabouthowthisworks.Here’sExample3-9inLaravel5.1:

Route::get('members/{id}',['as'=>'members.show','uses'=>'MembersController@show']);

Inourexample,we’venamedthisroutemembers.show;resourcePlural.actionisacommonconventionwithinLaravelforrouteandviewnames.

ROUTENAMINGCONVENTIONS

Youcannameyourrouteanythingyou’dlike,butthecommonconventionistousethepluraloftheresourcename,thenaperiod,thentheaction.So,herearetheroutesmostcommonforaresourcenamedphoto:

photos.indexphotos.createphotos.storephotos.showphotos.editphotos.updatephotos.destroy

Tolearnmoreabouttheseconventions,see“ResourceControllers”.

Wealsointroducedtheroute()helper.Justlikeurl(),it’sintendedtobeusedinviewstosimplifylinkingtoanamedroute.Iftheroutehasnoparameters,youcansimplypasstheroutename:(route('members.index'))andreceivearoutestringhttp://myapp.com/members/index).Ifithasparameters,passtheminasanarrayasthesecondparameterlikewedidinthisexample.

Ingeneral,Irecommendusingroutenamesinsteadofpathstorefertoyourroutes,andthereforeusingtheroute()helperinsteadoftheurl()helper.Sometimesitcangetabitclumsy—forexample,ifyou’reworkingwithmultiplesubdomains—butitprovidesanincrediblelevelofflexibilitytolaterchangetheapplication’sroutingstructurewithoutmajorpenalty.

PASSINGROUTEPARAMETERSTOTHEROUTE( ) HELPER

Whenyourroutehasparameters(e.g.,users/{id}),youneedtodefinethoseparameterswhenyou’reusingtheroute()helpertogeneratealinktotheroute.

Thereareafewdifferentwaystopasstheseparameters.Let’simaginearoutedefinedasusers/{userId}/comments/{commentId}.IftheuserIDis1andthecommentIDis2,let’slookatafewoptionswehaveavailabletous:

Option1:

route('users.comments.show',[1,2])//http://myapp.com/users/1/comments/2

Option2:

route('users.comments.show',['userId'=>1,'commentId'=>2])//http://myapp.com/users/1/comments/2

Option3:

route('users.comments.show',['commentId'=>2,'userId'=>1])//http://myapp.com/users/1/comments/2

Option4:

route('users.comments.show',['userId'=>1,'commentId'=>2,'opt'=>'a'])//http://myapp.com/users/1/comments/2?opt=a

Asyoucansee,nonkeyedarrayvaluesareassignedinorder;keyedarrayvaluesarematchedwiththerouteparametersmatchingtheirkeys,andanythingleftoverisaddedasaqueryparameter.

RouteGroupsOftenagroupofroutesshareaparticularcharacteristic—acertainauthenticationrequirement,apathprefix,orperhapsacontrollernamespace.Definingthesesharedcharacteristicsagainandagainoneachroutenotonlyseemstediousbutalsocanmuddyuptheshapeofyourroutesfileandobscuresomeofthestructuresofyourapplication.

Routegroupsallowyoutogroupseveralroutestogether,andapplyanysharedconfigurationsettingsoncetotheentiregroup,toreducethisduplication.Additionally,routegroupsarevisualcuestofuturedevelopers(andtoyourownbrain)thattheseroutesaregroupedtogether.

Togrouptwoormoreroutestogether,you“surround”theroutedefinitionswitharoutegroup,asshowninExample3-10.Inreality,you’reactuallypassingaclosuretothegroupdefinition,anddefiningthegroupedrouteswithinthatclosure.

Example3-10.DefiningaroutegroupRoute::group([],function(){Route::get('hello',function(){return'Hello';});Route::get('world',function(){return'World';});});

Bydefault,aroutegroupdoesn’tactuallydoanything.There’snodifferencebetweenthegroupinExample3-10andseparatingasegmentofyourrouteswithcodecomments.Theemptyarraythat’sthefirstparameter,however,allowsyoutopassavarietyofconfigurationsettingsthatwillapplytotheentireroutegroup.

MiddlewareProbablythemostcommonuseforroutegroupsistoapplymiddlewaretoagroupofroutes.We’lllearnmoreaboutmiddlewareinChapter10,but,amongotherthings,they’rewhatLaravelusesforauthenticatingusersandrestrictingguestusersfromusingcertainpartsofasite.

InExample3-11,we’recreatingaroutegrouparoundthedashboardandaccountviewsandapplyingtheauthmiddlewaretoboth.Inthisexample,itmeansusershavetobeloggedintotheapplicationtoviewthedashboardortheaccountpage.

Example3-11.Restrictingagroupofroutestologged-inusersonlyRoute::group(['middleware'=>'auth'],function(){Route::get('dashboard',function(){returnview('dashboard');});Route::get('account',function(){returnview('account');});});

APPLYINGMIDDLEWAREINCONTROLLERSOftenit’sclearerandmoredirecttoattachmiddlewaretoyourroutesinthecontrollerinsteadofattheroutedefinition.Youcandothisbycallingthemiddleware()methodintheconstructorofyourcontroller.Thestringyoupasstothemiddleware()methodisthenameofthemiddleware,andyoucanoptionallychainmodifiermethods(only()andexcept())todefinewhichmethodswillreceivethatmiddleware:

classDashboardControllerextendsController{publicfunction__construct(){$this->middleware('auth');

$this->middleware('admin-auth')->only('admin');

$this->middleware('team-member')->except('admin');}}

Notethat,ifyou’redoingalotof“only”and“except”customizations,that’softenasignthatyoushouldbreakoutanewcontrollerfortheexceptionalroutes.

PathPrefixesIfyouhaveagroupofroutesthatshareasegmentoftheirpath—forexample,ifyoursite’sAPIisprefixedwith/api—youcanuseroutegroupstosimplifythisstructure(seeExample3-12).

Example3-12.PrefixingagroupofroutesRoute::group(['prefix'=>'api'],function(){Route::get('/',function(){//Handlesthepath/api});Route::get('users',function(){//Handlesthepath/api/users});});

Notethateachprefixedgroupalsohasa/routethatrepresentstherootoftheprefix—inExample3-12that’s/api.

SubdomainRoutingSubdomainroutingisthesameasrouteprefixing,butit’sscopedbysubdomaininsteadofrouteprefix.Therearetwoprimaryusesforthis.First,youmaywanttopresentdifferentsectionsoftheapplication(orentirelydifferentapplications)todifferentsubdomains.Example3-13showshowyoucanachievethis.

Example3-13.SubdomainroutingRoute::group(['domain'=>'api.myapp.com'],function(){Route::get('/',function(){//});});

Second,youmightwanttosetpartofthesubdomainasaparameter,asillustratedinExample3-14.Thisismostoftendoneincasesofmultitenancy(thinkSlackorHarvest,whereeachcompanygetsitsownsubdomain,liketighten.slack.co).

Example3-14.ParameterizedsubdomainroutingRoute::group(['domain'=>'{account}.myapp.com'],function(){Route::get('/',function($account){//});Route::get('users/{id}',function($account,$id){//});});

Notethatanyparametersforthegroupgetpassedintothegroupedroutes’methodsasthefirstparameter(s).

NamespacePrefixesWhenyou’regroupingroutesbysubdomainorrouteprefix,it’slikelytheircontrollershaveasimilarPHPnamespace.IntheAPIexample,alloftheAPIroutes’controllersmightbeunderanAPInamespace.Byusingtheroutegroupnamespaceprefix,asshowninExample3-15,youcanavoidlongcontrollerreferencesingroupslike"API/ControllerA@index"and"API/ControllerB@index".

Example3-15.Routegroupnamespaceprefixes//App\Http\Controllers\ControllerARoute::get('/','ControllerA@index');

Route::group(['namespace'=>'API'],function(){//App\Http\Controllers\API\ControllerBRoute::get('api/','ControllerB@index');});

NamePrefixesTheprefixesdon’tstopthere.It’scommonthatroutenameswillreflecttheinheritancechainofpathelements,sousers/comments/5willbeservedbyaroutenamedusers.comments.show.Inthiscase,it’scommontousearoutegrouparoundalloftheroutesthatarebeneaththeusers.commentsresource.

JustlikewecanprefixURLsegmentsandcontrollernamespaces,wecanalsoprefixstringstotheroutename.Withroutegroupnameprefixes,wecandefinethateveryroutewithinthisgroupshouldhaveagivenstringprefixedtoitsname.Inthiscontext,we’reprefixing"users."toeachroutename,then"comments."(seeExample3-16).

Example3-16.RoutegroupnameprefixesRoute::group(['as'=>'users.','prefix'=>'users'],function(){Route::group(['as'=>'comments.','prefix'=>'comments'],function(){//Routenamewillbeusers.comments.showRoute::get('{id}',function(){//})->name('show');});});

ViewsInafewoftherouteclosureswe’velookedatsofar,we’veseensomethingalongthelinesofreturnview('account').What’sgoingonhere?

Ifyou’renotfamiliarwiththeModel–View–Controller(MVC)pattern,views(ortemplates)arefilesthatdescribewhatsomeparticularoutputshouldlooklike.YoumighthaveviewsforJSONorXMLoremails,butthemostcommonviewsinawebframeworkoutputHTML.

InLaravel,therearetwoformatsofviewyoucanuseoutofthebox:plainPHP,orBladetemplates(seeChapter4).Thedifferenceisinthefilename:about.phpwillberenderedwiththePHPengine,andabout.blade.phpwillberenderedwiththeBladeengine.

THREEWAYSTOLOADAVIEW()Therearethreedifferentwaystoreturnaview.Fornow,justconcernyourselfwithview(),butifyoueverseeView::make(),it’sthesamething,andyoucouldalsoinjecttheIlluminate\View\ViewFactoryifyouprefer.

Onceyou’veloadedaview,youhavetheoptiontosimplyreturnit(asinExample3-17),whichwillworkfineiftheviewdoesn’trelyonanyvariablesfromthecontroller.

Example3-17.Simpleview()usageRoute::get('/',function(){returnview('home');});

Thiscodelooksforaviewinresources/views/home.blade.phporresources/views/home.php,andloadsitscontentsandparsesanyinlinePHPorcontrolstructuresuntilyouhavejusttheview’soutput.Onceyoureturnit,it’spassedontotherestoftheresponsestackandeventuallyreturnedtotheuser.

Butwhatifyouneedtopassinvariables?TakealookatExample3-18.

Example3-18.PassingvariablestoviewsRoute::get('tasks',function(){returnview('tasks.index')->with('tasks',Task::all());});

Thisclosureloadstheresources/views/tasks/index.blade.phporresources/views/tasks/index.phpviewandpassesitasinglevariablenamedtasks,whichcontainstheresultoftheTask::all()method.Task::all()isanEloquentdatabasequerywe’lllearnaboutinChapter8.

UsingViewComposerstoShareVariableswithEveryViewSometimesitcanbecomeahassletopassthesamevariablesoverandover.Theremaybeavariablethatyouwantaccessibletoeveryviewinthesite,ortoacertainclassofviewsoracertainincludedsubview—forexample,allviewsrelatedtotasks,ortheheaderpartial.

It’spossibletosharecertainvariableswitheverytemplateorjustcertaintemplates,likeinthefollowingcode:

view()->share('variableName','variableValue');

Tolearnmore,checkout“ViewComposersandServiceInjection”.

ControllersI’vementionedcontrollersafewtimes,butuntilnowmostoftheexampleshaveshownrouteclosures.Ifyou’renotfamiliarwiththeMVCpattern(Figure3-1),controllersareessentiallyclassesthatorganizethelogicofoneormoreroutestogetherinoneplace.Controllerstendtogroupsimilarroutestogether,especiallyifyourapplicationisstructuredalongatraditionallyCRUD-likeformat;inthiscase,acontrollermighthandlealltheactionsthatcanbeperformedonaparticularresource.

Figure3-1.AbasicillustrationofMVC

WHATISCRUD?CRUDstandsforcreate,read,update,delete,whicharethefourprimaryoperationsthatwebapplicationsmostcommonlyprovideonaresource.Forexample,youcancreateanewblogpost,youcanreadthatpost,youcanupdateit,oryoucandeleteit.

Itmaybetemptingtocramalloftheapplication’slogicintothecontrollers,butit’sbettertothinkofcontrollersasthetrafficcopsthatrouteHTTPrequestsaroundyourapplication.Sincethereareotherwaysrequestscancomeintoyourapplication—cronjobs,Artisancommand-linecalls,queuejobs,etc.—it’swisetonotrelyoncontrollersformuchbehavior.Thismeansacontroller ’sprimaryjobistocapturetheintentofanHTTPrequestandpassitontotherestoftheapplication.

So,let’screateacontroller.OneeasywaytodothisiswithanArtisancommand,sofromthecommandlinerunthefollowing:

phpartisanmake:controllerTasksController

ARTISANANDARTISANGENERATORSLaravelcomesbundledwithacommand-linetoolcalledArtisan.Artisancanbeusedtorunmigrations,createusersandotherdatabaserecordsmanually,andperformmanyothermanual,one-timetasks.

Underthemakenamespace,Artisanprovidestoolsforgeneratingskeletonfilesforavarietyofsystemfiles.That’swhatallowsustorunphpartisanmake:controller.

TolearnmoreaboutthisandotherArtisanfeatures,seeChapter7.

ThiswillcreateanewfilenamedTasksController.phpinapp/Http/Controllers,withthecontentsshowninExample3-19.

Example3-19.Defaultgeneratedcontroller

CONTROLLER NAMESPACING

InExample3-21wereferencedacontrollerwiththefullyqualifiedclassnameofApp\Http\Controllers\TasksController,butweonlyusedtheclassname.Thisisn’tbecausewecansimplyreferencecontrollersbytheirclassname.Rather,wecanignoretheApp\Http\Controllers\whenwereferencecontrollers;bydefault,Laravelisconfiguredtolookforcontrollerswithinthatnamespace.

ThismeansthatifyouhaveacontrollerwiththefullyqualifiedclassnameofApp\Http\Controllers\API\ExercisesController,you’dreferenceitinaroutedefinitionasAPI\ExercisesController.

Themostcommonuseofacontrollermethod,then,willbesomethinglikeExample3-22.

Example3-22.Commoncontrollermethodexample//TasksController.php...publicfunctionindex(){returnview('tasks.index')->with('tasks',Task::all());}

Thiscontrollermethodloadstheresources/views/tasks/index.blade.phporresources/views/tasks/index.phpviewandpassesitasinglevariablenamedtasks,whichcontainstheresultoftheTask::all()Eloquentmethod.

GENERATINGRESOURCECONTROLLERSIfyoueverusedphpartisanmake:controllerinLaravelpriorto5.3,youmightbeexpectingittoautogeneratemethodsforallofthebasicresourcerouteslikecreate()andupdate().YoucanbringthisbehaviorbackinLaravel5.3bypassingthe--resourceflagwhenyoucreatethecontroller:

phpartisanmake:controllerTasksController--resource

GettingUserInputThesecondmostcommonactiontoperforminacontrollermethodistotakeinputfromtheuserandactonit.Thatintroducesafewnewconcepts,solet’stakealookatabitofsamplecodeandwalkthroughthenewpieces.

First,let’sbinditquickly;seeExample3-23.

Example3-23.Bindingbasicformactions//routes/web.phpRoute::get('tasks/create','TasksController@create');Route::post('tasks','TasksController@store');

Noticethatwe’rebindingtheGETactionoftasks/create(whichshowstheform)andthePOSTactionoftasks/(whichiswherewePOSTwhenwe’recreatinganewtask).Wecanassumethecreate()methodinourcontrollerjustshowsaform,solet’slookatthestore()methodinExample3-24.

Example3-24.Commonforminputcontrollermethod//TasksController.php...publicfunctionstore(){$task=newTask;$task->title=Input::get('title');$task->description=Input::get('description');$task->save();

returnredirect('tasks');}

ThisexamplemakesuseofEloquentmodelsandtheredirect()functionality,andwe’lltalkaboutthemmorelater,butyoucanseewhatwe’redoinghere:wecreateanewTask,pulldataoutoftheuserinputandsetitonthetask,saveit,andthenredirectbacktothepagethatshowsalltasks.

TherearetwomainwaystogetuserinputfromaPOST:theInputfacade,whichweusedhere,andtheRequestobject,whichwe’lltalkaboutnext.

IMPORTINGFACADESIfyoufollowanyoftheseexamples,whetherincontrollersoranyotherPHPclassthatisnamespaced,youmightfinderrorsshowingthatthefacadecannotbefound.Thisisbecausethey’renotpresentineverynamespace,butratherthey’remadeavailableintherootnamespace.

So,inExample3-24,we’dneedtoimporttheInputfacadeatthetopofthefile.Therearetwowaystodothat:eitherwecanimport\Input,orwecanimportIlluminate\Support\Facades\Input.Forexample:

InjectingDependenciesintoControllersLaravel’sfacadespresentasimpleinterfacetothemostusefulclassesinLaravel’scodebase.Youcangetinformationaboutthecurrentrequestanduserinput,thesession,caches,andmuchmore.

Butifyouprefertoinjectyourdependencies,orifyouwanttouseaservicethatdoesn’thaveafacade,you’llneedtofindsomewaytobringinstancesoftheseclassesintoyourcontroller.

ThisisourfirstexposuretoLaravel’sservicecontainer.Fornow,ifthisisunfamiliar,youcanthinkaboutitasalittlebitofLaravelmagic;or,ifyouwanttoknowmoreabouthowit’sactuallyfunctioning,youcanskipaheadtoChapter11.

Allcontrollermethods(includingtheconstructors)areresolvedoutofLaravel’scontainer,whichmeansanythingyoutypehintthatthecontainerknowshowtoresolvewillbeautomaticallyinjected.

Asaniceexample,whatifyou’dpreferhavinganinstanceoftheRequestobjectinsteadofusingthefacade?JusttypehintIlluminate\Http\Requestinyourmethodparameters,likeinExample3-25.

Example3-25.Controllermethodinjectionviatypehinting//TasksController.php...publicfunctionstore(\Illuminate\Http\Request$request){$task=newTask;$task->title=$request->input('title');$task->description=$request->input('description');$task->save();

returnredirect('tasks');}

So,you’vedefinedaparameterthatmustbepassedintothestore()method.Andsinceyoutypehintedit,andsinceLaravelknowshowtoresolvethatclassname,you’regoingtohavetheRequestobjectreadyforyoutouseinyourmethodwithnoworkonyourpart.Noexplicitbinding,noanythingelse—it’sjustthereasthe$requestvariable.

Bytheway,thisisactuallyhowIandmanyotherLaraveldevelopersprefertogettheuserinput:injectaninstanceoftheRequestandreadtheuserinputfromthere,insteadofrelyingontheInputfacade.

ResourceControllersSometimesnamingthemethodsinyourcontrollerscanbethehardestpartofwritingacontroller.Thankfully,LaravelhassomeconventionsforalloftheroutesofatraditionalREST/CRUDcontroller(calleda“resourcecontroller”inLaravel);additionally,itcomeswithageneratoroutoftheboxandaconvenienceroutedefinitionthatallowsyoutobindanentireresourcecontrolleratonce.

ToseethemethodsthatLaravelexpectsforaresourcecontroller,let’sgenerateanewcontrollerfromthecommandline:

phpartisanmake:controllerMySampleResourceController--resource

Nowopenapp/Http/Controllers/MySampleResourceController.php.You’llseeitcomesprefilledwithquiteafewmethods.Let’swalkoverwhateachrepresents.We’lluseaTaskasanexample.

ThemethodsofLaravel’sresourcecontrollersForeach,youcanseetheHTTPverb,theURL,thecontrollermethodname,andthe“name.”Table3-1showstheHTTPverb,theURL,thecontrollermethodname,andthe“name”foreachofthesedefaultmethods.

Table3-1.ThemethodsofLaravel’sresourcecontrollers

Verb URL Controllermethod Name Description

GET tasks index() tasks.index Showalltasks

GET tasks/create create() tasks.create Showthecreatetaskform

POST tasks store() tasks.store Acceptformsubmissionfromthecreatetaskform

GET tasks/{task} show() tasks.show Showonetask

GET tasks/{task}/edit edit() tasks.edit Editonetask

PUT/PATCH tasks/{task} update() tasks.update Acceptformsubmissionfromtheedittaskform

DELETE tasks/{task} destroy() tasks.destroy Deleteonetask

BindingaresourcecontrollerSo,we’veseenthatthesearetheconventionalroutenamestouseinLaravel,andalsothatit’seasytogeneratearesourcecontrollerwithmethodsforeachofthesedefaultroutes.Thankfully,youdon’thavetogenerateroutesforeachofthesecontrollermethodsbyhand,ifyoudon’twantto.Instead,there’satrickforthat,andit’scalled“resourcecontrollerbinding.”TakealookatExample3-26.

Example3-26.Resourcecontrollerbinding//routes/web.phpRoute::resource('tasks','TasksController');

Thiswillautomaticallybindalloftheroutesforthisresourcetotheappropriatemethodnamesonthespecifiedcontroller.It’llalsonametheseroutesappropriately;forexample,theindex()methodonthetasksresourcecontrollerwillbenamedtasks.index.

ARTISANROUTE:LISTIfyoueverfindyourselfinasituationwhereyou’rewonderingwhatroutesyourcurrentapplicationhasavailable,there’satoolforthat:fromthecommandline,runphpartisanroute:listandyou’llgetalistingofalloftheavailableroutes(seeFigure3-2).

Figure3-2.phpartisanroute:listexample

RouteModelBindingOneofthemostcommonroutingpatternsisthatthefirstlineofanycontrollermethodtriestofindtheresourcewiththegivenID,likeinExample3-27.

Example3-27.GettingaresourceforeachrouteRoute::get('conferences/{id}',function($id){$conference=Conference::findOrFail($id);});

Laravelprovidesafeaturethatsimplifiesthispatterncalled“routemodelbinding.”Thisallowsyoutodefinethataparticularparametername(e.g.,{conference})willindicatetotherouteresolverthatitshouldlookupanEloquentrecordwiththatIDandthenpassitinastheparameterinsteadofjustpassingtheID.

Therearetwokindsofroutemodelbinding:implicitandcustom(orexplicit).

ImplicitRouteModelBindingThesimplestwaytouseroutemodelbindingistonameyourrouteparametersomethinguniquetothatmodel(e.g.,nameit$conferenceinsteadof$id),thentypehintthatparameterintheclosure/controllermethodandusethesamevariablenamethere.It’seasiertoshowthantodescribe,sotakealookatExample3-28.

Example3-28.UsinganexplicitroutemodelbindingRoute::get('conferences/{conference}',function(Conference$conference){returnview('conferences.show')->with('conference',$conference);});

Becausetherouteparameter({conference})isthesameasthemethodparameter($conference),andthemethodparameteristypehintedwithaConferencemodel(Conference$conference),Laravelseesthisasaroutemodelbinding.Everytimethisrouteisvisited,theapplicationwillassumethatwhateverispassedintotheURLinplaceof{conference}isanIDthatshouldbeusedtolookupaConference,andthenthatresultingmodelinstancewillbepassedintoyourclosureorcontrollermethod.

CUSTOMIZINGTHEROUTEKEYFORANELOQUENTMODELAnytimeanEloquentmodelislookedupviaaURLsegment(usuallybecauseofroutemodelbinding),thedefaultcolumnEloquentwilllookitupbyisitsprimarykey(ID).

TochangethecolumnyourEloquentmodelusesforURLlookups,addamethodtoyourmodelnamedgetRouteKeyName():

publicfunctiongetRouteKeyName(){return'slug';}

Now,aURLlikeconferences/{conference}willexpecttogetthesluginsteadoftheID,andwillperformitslookupsaccordingly.

ImplicitroutemodelbindingwasaddedinLaravel5.2,soyouwon’thaveaccesstoitin5.1.

CustomRouteModelBindingTomanuallyconfigureroutemodelbindings,addalineliketheoneinExample3-29totheboot()methodinApp\Providers\RouteServiceProvider.

Example3-29.Addingaroutemodelbindingpublicfunctionboot(Router$router){//Justallowstheparent'sboot()methodtostillrunparent::boot($router);

//Performthebinding$router->model('event',Conference::class);}

You’venowdefinedthatwheneveraroutehasaparameterinitsdefinitionnamed{event},asdemonstratedinExample3-30,therouteresolverwillreturnaninstanceoftheConferenceclasswiththeIDofthatURLparameter.

Example3-30.UsinganexplicitroutemodelbindingRoute::get('events/{event}',function(Conference$event){returnview('events.show')->with('event',$event);});

RouteCachingIfyou’relookingtosqueezeeverymillisecondoutofyourloadtime,youmaywanttotakealookatroutecaching.OneofthepiecesofLaravel’sbootstrapthatcantakeanywherefromafewdozentoafewhundredmillisecondsisparsingtheroutes/*files,androutecachingspeedsupthisprocessdramatically.

Tocacheyourroutesfile,youneedtobeusingallcontrollerandresourceroutes(norouteclosures).Ifyourappisn’tusinganyrouteclosures,youcanrunphpartisanroute:cache,Laravelwillserializetheresultsofyourroutes/*files.Ifyouwanttodeletethecache,runphpartisanroute:clear.

Here’sthedrawback:Laravelwillnowmatchroutesagainstthatcachedfileinsteadofyouractualroutes/*files.Youcanmakeendlesschangestothosefiles,andtheywon’ttakeeffectuntilyourunroute:cacheagain.Thismeansyou’llhavetorecacheeverytimeyoumakeachange,whichintroducesalotofpotentialforconfusion.

Here’swhatIwouldrecommendinstead:sinceGitignorestheroutecachefilebydefaultanyway,consideronlyusingroutecachingonyourproductionserver,andrunthephpartisanroute:cachecommandeverytimeyoudeploynewcode(whetherviaaGitpost-deployhook,aForgedeploycommand,orasapartofwhateverotherdeploysystemyouuse).Thiswayyouwon’thaveconfusinglocaldevelopmentissues,butyourremoteenvironmentwillstillbenefitfromroutecaching.

FormMethodSpoofingSometimes,youneedtomanuallydefinewhichHTTPverbaformshouldsendas.HTMLformsonlyallowforGETorPOST,soifyouwantanyothersortofverb,you’llneedtospecifythatyourself.

AnIntroductiontoHTTPVerbsWe’vetalkedabouttheGETandPOSTHTTPverbsalready.Ifyou’renotfamiliarwithHTTPverbs,theothertwomostcommononesarePUTandDELETE,butthere’salsoHEAD,OPTIONS,PATCH,andtwoothersthatareprettymuchneverusedinnormalwebdevelopment,TRACEandCONNECT.

Here’sthequickrundown:GETrequestsaresourceandHEADasksforaheaders-onlyversionoftheGET,POSTcreatesaresource,PUToverwritesaresourceandPATCHmodifiesaresource,DELETEdeletesaresource,andOPTIONSaskstheserverwhichverbsareallowedatthisURL.

HTTPVerbsinLaravelAswe’veshownalready,youcandefinewhichverbsaroutewillmatchintheroutedefinitionusingRoute::get(),Route::post(),Route::any(),orRoute::match().YoucanalsomatchwithRoute::patch(),Route::put(),andRoute::delete().

ButhowdoesonesendarequestotherthanGETwithawebbrowser?First,themethodattributeinanHTMLformdeterminesitsHTTPverb:ifyourformhasamethodof"GET",itwillsubmitviaqueryparametersandaGETmethod;iftheformhasamethodof"POST",itwillsubmitviathepostbodyandaPOSTmethod.

JavaScriptframeworksmakeiteasytosendotherrequests,likeDELETEandPATCH.ButifyoufindyourselfneedingtosubmitHTMLformsinLaravelwithverbsotherthanGETorPOST,you’llneedtouseformmethodspoofing,whichisspoofingtheHTTPmethodinanHTMLform.

HTTPMethodSpoofinginHTMLFormsToinformLaravelthattheformyou’recurrentlysubmittingshouldbetreatedassomethingotherthanPOST,addahiddenvariablenamed_methodwiththevalueofeither"PUT","PATCH",or"DELETE",andLaravelwillmatchandroutethatformsubmissionasifitwereactuallyarequestwiththatverb.

TheforminExample3-31,sinceit’spassingLaravelthemethodof"DELETE",willmatchroutesdefinedwithRoute::delete()butnotthosewithRoute::post().

Example3-31.Formmethodspoofing

CSRFProtectionIfyou’vetriedtocreateandsubmitaforminaLaravelapplicationalready—includingtheforminExample3-31—you’velikelyrunintothedreadedTokenMismatchException.

Bydefault,allroutesinLaravelexcept“read-only”routes(thoseusingGET,HEAD,orOPTIONS)areprotectedagainstcross-siterequestforgery(CSRF)attacksbyrequiringatoken,intheformofaninputnamed_token,tobepassedalongwitheachrequest.Thistokenisgeneratedatthestartofeverysession,andeverynon–read-onlyroutecomparesthesubmitted_tokenagainstthesessiontoken.

WHATISCSRF?Across-siterequestforgeryiswhenonewebsitepretendstobeanother.Thegoalisforsomeonetohijackyourusers’accesstoyourwebsite,bysubmittingformsfromtheirwebsitetoyourwebsiteviathelogged-inuser’sbrowser.

ThebestwayaroundCSRFattacksistoprotectallinboundroutes—POST,DELETE,etc.—withatoken,whichLaraveldoesoutofthebox.

Youhavetwooptionsforgettingaroundthis.Thefirst,andpreferred,methodistoaddthe_tokeninputtoeachofyoursubmissions.InHTMLforms,that’ssimple;lookatExample3-32.

Example3-32.CSRFtokens

RedirectsSofartheonlythingswe’vereturnedfromacontrollermethodorroutedefinitionhavebeenviews.Butthereareafewotherstructureswecanreturntogivethebrowserinstructionsonhowtobehave.

First,let’scovertheredirect.Therearetwocommonwaystogeneratearedirect;we’llusetheredirectglobalhelperhere,butyoumaypreferthefacade.BothcreateaninstanceofIlluminate\Http\RedirectResponse,performsomeconveniencemethodsonit,andthenreturnit.Youcanalsodothismanually,butyou’llhavetodoalittlemoreworkyourself.TakealookatExample3-34toseeafewwaysyoucanreturnaredirect.

Example3-34.Differentwaystoreturnaredirect//UsingtheglobalhelpertogeneratearedirectresponseRoute::get('redirect-with-helper',function(){returnredirect()->to('login');});

//UsingtheglobalhelpershortcutRoute::get('redirect-with-helper-shortcut',function(){returnredirect('login');});

//UsingthefacadetogeneratearedirectresponseRoute::get('redirect-with-facade',function(){returnRedirect::to('login');});

Notethattheredirect()helperexposesthesamemethodsastheRedirectfacade,butitalsohasashortcut;ifyoupassparametersdirectlytothehelper,insteadofchainingmethodsafterit,it’sashortcuttotheto()redirectmethod.

redirect()->to()Themethodsignaturefortheto()methodforredirectslookslikethis:

functionto($to=null,$status=302,$headers=[],$secure=null)

$toisavalidinternalpath;$statusistheHTTPstatus(defaultingto302FOUND);$headersallowsyoutodefinewhichHTTPheaderstosendalongwithyourredirect;and$secureallowsyoutooverridethedefaultchoiceofhttpversushttps(whichisnormallysetbasedonyourcurrentrequestURL).Example3-35showsanotherexampleofitsuse.

Example3-35.redirect()->to()Route::get('redirect',function(){returnredirect()->to('home');

//orsame,usingtheshortcut:

returnredirect('home');});

redirect()->route()Theroute()methodisthesameastheto()method,butratherthanpointingtoaparticularpath,itpointstoaparticularroutename(seeExample3-36).

Example3-36.redirect()->route()Route::get('redirect',function(){returnredirect()->route('conferences.index');});

Notethat,sincesomeroutenamesrequireparameters,itsparameterorderisalittledifferent.route()hasanoptionalsecondparameterfortherouteparameters:

functionroute($to=null,$parameters=[],$status=302,$headers=[])

So,usingitmightlookalittlelikeExample3-37.

Example3-37.redirect()->route()withparametersRoute::get('redirect',function(){returnredirect()->route('conferences.show',['conference'=>99]);});

redirect()->back()Becauseofsomeofthebuilt-inconveniencesofLaravel’ssessionimplementation,yourapplicationwillalwayshaveknowledgeofwhattheuser ’spreviouslyvisitedpagewas.Thatopensuptheopportunityforaredirect()->()redirect,whichsimplyredirectstheusertowhateverpageshecamefrom.There’salsoaglobalshortcutforthis:back().

OtherRedirectMethodsTheredirectserviceprovidesothermethodsthatarelesscommonlyused,butstillavailable:

home()redirectstoaroutenamedhome.

refresh()redirectstothesamepagetheuseriscurrentlyon.

away()allowsforredirectingtoanexternalURLwithoutthedefaultURLvalidation.

secure()isliketo()withthesecureparametersetto"true".

action()allowsyoutolinktoacontrollerandmethodlikethis:redirect()->action('MyController@myMethod').

guest()isusedinternallybytheauthsystem(discussedinChapter9);whenauservisitsaroutehe’snotauthenticatedfor,thiscapturesthe“intended”routeandthenredirectstheuser(usuallytoaloginpage).

intended()isalsousedinternallybytheauthsystem;afterasuccessfulauthentication,thisgrabsthe“intended”URLstoredbytheguest()methodandredirectstheuserthere.

redirect()->with()Whenyou’reredirectinguserstodifferentpages,youoftenwanttopasscertaindataalongwiththem.Youcouldmanuallyflashthedatatothesession,butLaravelhassomeconveniencemethodstohelpyouwiththat.

Mostcommonly,youcanpassalongeitheranarrayofkeysandvaluesorasinglekeyandvalueusingwith(),likeinExample3-38.

Example3-38.RedirectwithdataRoute::get('redirect-with-key-value',function(){returnredirect('dashboard')->with('error',true);});

Route::get('redirect-with-array',function(){returnredirect('dashboard')->with(['error'=>true,'message'=>'Whoops!']);});

CHAININGMETHODSONREDIRECTSAswithmanyotherfacades,mostcallstotheRedirectfacadecanacceptfluentmethodchains,likethewith()callsinExample3-38.Learnmoreaboutfluencyin“WhatIsaFluentInterface?”.

YoucanalsousewithInput(),asinExample3-39,toredirectwiththeuser ’sforminputflashed;thisismostcommoninthecaseofavalidationerror,whereyouwanttosendtheuserbacktotheformshejustcamefrom.

Example3-39.RedirectwithforminputRoute::get('form',function(){returnview('form');});

Route::post('form',function(){returnredirect('form')->withInput()->with(['error'=>true,'message'=>'Whoops!']);});

TheeasiestwaytogettheflashedinputthatwaspassedwithwithInput()isusingtheold()helper,whichcanbeusedtogetalloldinput(old())orjustthevalueforaparticularkey(old('username'),withthesecondparameterasthedefaultifthereisnooldvalue).You’llcommonlyseethisinviews,whichallowsthisHTMLtobeusedbothonthe“create”andthe“edit”viewforthisform:

THEVALIDATE()SHORTCUTINCONTROLLERMETHODSLikehowExample3-40looks?Ifyou’redefiningyourroutesinacontroller,there’sasimpleandpowerfultoolthatcleansupthatcode.Readmorein“validate()intheControllerUsingValidatesRequests”.

AbortingtheRequestAsidefromreturningviewsandredirects,themostcommonwaytoexitarouteistoabort.Thereareafewgloballyavailablemethods(abort(),abort_if(),andabort_unless()),whichoptionallytakeHTTPstatuscodes,amessage,andaheadersarrayasparameters.

AsExample3-41shows,abort_if()andabort_unless()takeafirstparameterthatisevaluatedforitstruthiness,andperformtheabortdependingontheresult.

Example3-41.403ForbiddenabortsRoute::post('something-you-cant-do',function(Illuminate\Http\Request){abort(403,'Youcannotdothat!');abort_unless($request->has('magicToken'),403);abort_if($request->user()->isBanned,403);});

CustomResponsesThereareafewotheroptionsavailableforustoreturn,solet’sgooverthemostcommonresponsesafterviews,redirects,andaborts.Justlikewithredirects,youcaneitherusetheresponse()helperortheResponsefacadetorunthesemethodson.

response()->make()IfyouwanttocreateanHTTPresponsemanually,justpassyourdataintothefirstparameterofresponse()->make():e.g.,returnresponse()->make('Hello,World!').Onceagain,thesecondparameteristheHTTPstatuscodeandthethirdisyourheaders.

response()->json()and->jsonp()TocreateaJSON-encodedHTTPresponsemanually,passyourJSON-ablecontent(arrays,collections,orwhateverelse)tothejson()method:e.g.,returnresponse()->json(User::all());.It’sjustlikemake(),exceptitjson_encodesyourcontentandsetstheappropriateheaders.

response()->download()and->file()Tosendafilefortheendusertodownload,passeitheranSplFileInfoinstanceorastringfilenametodownload(),withanoptionalsecondparameterofthefilename:e.g.,returnresponse()->download('file501751.pdf','myFile.pdf').

Todisplaythesamefileinthebrowser(ifit’saPDForanimageorsomethingelsethebrowsercanhandle),useresponse()->file()instead,whichtakesthesameparameters.

TestingInsomeothercommunities,theideaofunittestingcontrollermethodsiscommon,butwithinLaravel(andmostofthePHPcommunity),it’smostcommontorelyonapplicationtestingtotestthefunctionalityofroutes.

Forexample,toverifythataPOSTrouteworkscorrectly,wecanwriteatestlikeExample3-42.

Example3-42.WritingasimplePOSTroutetest//AssignmentTest.phppublicfunctiontest_post_creates_new_assignment(){$this->post('/assignments',['title'=>'Mygreatassignment']);

$this->seeInDatabase('assignments',['title'=>'Mygreatassignment']);}

Didwedirectlycallthecontrollermethods?No.Butweensuredthatthegoalofthisroute—toreceiveaPOSTandsaveitsimportantinformationtothedatabase—wasmet.

Youcanalsousesimilarsyntaxtovisitarouteandverifythatcertaintextshowsuponthepage,orthatclickingcertainbuttonsdoescertainthings(seeExample3-43).

Example3-43.WritingasimpleGETroutetest//AssignmentTest.phppublicfunctiontest_list_page_shows_all_assignments(){$assignment=Assignment::create(['title'=>'Mygreatassignment']);

$this->visit('assignments')->dee(['Mygreatassignment']);}

TL;DRLaravel’sroutesaredefinedinroutes/web.phpandroutes/api.php,whereyoucandefinetheexpectedpathforeachroute,whichsegmentsarestaticandwhichareparameters,whichHTTPverbscanaccesstheroute,andhowtoresolveit.Youcanalsoattachmiddlewaretoroutes,groupthem,andgivethemnames.

WhatisreturnedfromtherouteclosureorcontrollermethoddictateshowLaravelrespondstotheuser.Ifit’sastringoraview,it’spresentedtotheuser;ifit’sothersortsofdata,it’sconvertedtoJSONandpresentedtotheuser;andifit’saredirect,itforcesaredirect.

Laravelprovidesaseriesoftoolsandconveniencestosimplifycommonrouting-relatedtasksandstructures.Theseincluderesourcecontrollers,routemodelbinding,andformmethodspoofing.

Chapter4.BladeTemplating

Comparedtomostotherbackendlanguages,PHPactuallyfunctionsrelativelywellasatemplatinglanguage.Butithasitsshortcomings,andit’salsojustuglytobeusing

USINGTWIGWITHLARAVELUnlikemanyotherSymfony-basedframeworks,Laraveldoesn’tuseTwigbydefault.Butifyou’rejustinlovewithTwig,there’saTwigBridgepackagethatmakesiteasytouseTwiginsteadofBlade.

https://github.com/rcrowe/TwigBridge

EchoingDataAsyoucanseeinExample4-1,{{and}}areusedtowrapsectionsofPHPthatyou’dliketoecho.{{$variable}}issimilartoinplainPHP.

It’sdifferentinoneway,however,andyoumight’veguessedthisalready:BladeescapesallechoesbydefaultusingPHP’shtmlentities()toprotectyourusersfrommaliciousscriptinsertion.Thatmeans{{$variable}}isfunctionallyequivalentto.Ifyouwanttoechowithouttheescaping,use{!!and!!}instead.

{{AND}}WHENUSINGAFRONTENDTEMPLATINGFRAMEWORK

Youmight’venoticedthattheechosyntaxforBlade({{}})issimilartotheechosyntaxformanyfrontendframeworks.So,howdoesLaravelknowwhenyou’rewritingBladeversusHandlebars?

Bladewillignoreany{{that’sprefacedwithan@.So,itwillparsethefirstofthefollowingexamples,butthesecondwillbeechoedoutdirectly:

//ParsedasBlade;thevalueof$bladeVariableisechoedtotheview{{$bladeVariable}}

//@isremoved,and"{{handlebarsVariable}}"echoedtotheviewdirectly@{{handlebarsVariable}}

ControlStructuresMostofthecontrolstructuresinBladewillbeveryfamiliar.ManydirectlyechothenameandstructureofthesametaginPHP.

Thereareafewconveniencehelpers,butingeneral,thecontrolstructuresjustlookcleanerthantheywouldinPHP.

ConditionalsFirst,let’stakealookatthecontrolstructuresthatallowforlogic.

@ifBlade’s@if($condition)compilesto.@else,@elseif,and@endifalsocompiletotheexactsamesyntaxinPHP.TakealookatExample4-2forsomeexamples.

Example4-2.@if,@else,@elseif,and@endif@if(count($talks)===1)Thereisonetalkatthistimeperiod.@elseif(count($talks)===0)Therearenotalksatthistimeperiod.@elseThereare{{count($talks)}}talksatthistimeperiod.@endif

JustlikewiththenativePHPconditionals,youcanmixandmatchthesehowyouwant.Theydon’thaveanyspeciallogic;there’sliterallyaparserlookingforsomethingwiththeshapeof@if($condition)andreplacingitwiththeappropriatePHPcode.

@unlessand@endunless@unless,ontheotherhand,isanewsyntaxthatdoesn’thaveadirectequivalentinPHP.It’sthedirectinverseof@if.@unless($condition)isthesameas

LoopsNext,let’stakealookattheloops.

@for,@foreach,and@while@for,@foreach,and@whileworkthesameinBladeastheydoinPHP;seeExamples4-4,4-5,and4-6.

Example4-4.@forand@endfor@for($i=0;$i<$talk->slotsCount();$i++)Thenumberis{{$i}}
@endfor

Example4-5.@foreachand@endforeach@foreach($talksas$talk)•{{$talk->title}}({{$talk->length}}minutes)
@endforeach

Example4-6.@whileand@endwhile@while($item=array_pop($items)){{$item->orSomething()}}
@endwhile

@forelse@forelseisa@foreachthatalsoallowsyoutoprograminafallbackiftheobjectyou’reiteratingoverisempty.Wesawitinactionatthestartofthischapter;Example4-7showsanotherexample.

Example4-7.@forelse@forelse($talksas$talk)•{{$talk->title}}({{$talk->length}}minutes)
@emptyNotalksthisday.@endforelse

$LOOPWITHIN@FOREACHAND@FORELSEThe@foreachand@forelsedirectivesinLaravel5.3addonefeaturethat’snotavailableinPHPforeachloops:the$loopvariable.Usedwithina@foreachor@forelseloop,thisvariablewillreturnastdClassobjectwiththefollowingproperties:

index

The0-basedindexofthecurrentitemintheloop;0wouldmean“fi