Laravel basic routing explain with example

Introduction:

Laravel, the popular PHP framework, provides a robust routing system that allows developers to define how incoming requests are handled and processed. Understanding Laravel routing is crucial for building web applications with clean and organized code. In this guide, we’ll delve into Laravel routing, explaining its concepts with clear examples to help you grasp its fundamentals effectively.

What is Routing?

Routing, in the context of web development, refers to the process of directing incoming HTTP requests to the appropriate controller and method for processing. Laravel’s routing system enables developers to define these routes in a clear and expressive manner, making it easier to manage the application’s URL structure.

Basic Routing in Laravel:

Let’s start by looking at how basic routing works in Laravel. Open your routes/web.php file, which is where you’ll define most of your application’s routes. Here’s a simple example:

Route::get('/hello', function () {
    return 'Hello, World!';
});

In this example, we’ve defined a route that responds to HTTP GET requests to the /hello URL. When a user visits /hello in their browser, Laravel executes the anonymous function provided as the second argument and returns the string “Hello, World!”.

Route Parameters: Routes often need to capture values from the URL to perform specific actions. Laravel allows you to define route parameters for this purpose. Here’s an example:

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

In this route definition, {id} is a route parameter that captures any value in the URL segment and passes it to the corresponding function parameter. For example, visiting /user/123 would return “User ID: 123”.

Named Routes: Named routes allow you to conveniently refer to routes by name rather than their URL. This is useful for generating URLs or redirects within your application. Here’s how you can define and use named routes:

Route::get('/profile', function () {
    // Route logic here
})->name('profile');

// Generating URL using route name
$url = route('profile');

Middleware: Middleware provides a convenient mechanism for filtering HTTP requests entering your application. Laravel includes several middleware, such as auth for authentication and throttle for rate limiting. You can apply middleware to routes like this:

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