Introduction to Laravel

Laravel is a free, open-source PHP web framework intended for the development of web applications following the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architectural pattern. It is known for its elegant syntax, robust features, and developer-friendly tools.

Laravel can be installed using Composer, a PHP dependency manager. Here's how to install Laravel:

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel blog

Or, you can use the Laravel installer:

composer global require laravel/installer


laravel new blog

Routes define the URLs your application should respond to and the logic to execute when those URLs are accessed.

Route::get('/', function () {


    return view('welcome');


});

Routes are defined in routes/web.php for web routes and routes/api.php for API routes.

Controllers group related request handling logic into a single class. You can generate a controller using Artisan:

php artisan make:controller UserController
class UserController extends Controller


{


    public function index()


    {


        return view('users.index');


    }


}

Models represent database tables and allow you to interact with your data. Generate a model using:

php artisan make:model Post
class Post extends Model


{


    // Table, fillable, relationships, etc.


}

Middleware provides a convenient mechanism for filtering HTTP requests entering your application (e.g., authentication, logging).

php artisan make:middleware CheckAge
public function handle($request, Closure $next)


{


    if ($request->age <= 18) {


        return redirect('home');


    }


    return $next($request);


}

Laravel provides a simple way to implement authentication. You can scaffold authentication using:

composer require laravel/ui


php artisan ui vue --auth

Or use Laravel Breeze, Jetstream, or Fortify for more advanced authentication features.

Eloquent is Laravel's built-in ORM, providing a beautiful, simple ActiveRecord implementation for working with your database.

// Retrieve all posts


$posts = Post::all();




// Find a post by ID


$post = Post::find(1);




// Create a new post


Post::create(['title' => 'New Post', 'body' => 'Content']);

Laravel supports multiple database systems (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, SQL Server) and provides a fluent query builder and schema builder.

// Query Builder Example


$users = DB::table('users')->where('active', 1)->get();
php artisan migrate

Use migrations to manage your database schema.