Laravel Explained: Why It's the PHP Framework That Actually Makes Sense

<?php

// FILE: routes/web.php
// This is where you map URLs to behaviour.
// Laravel reads this file on every request.

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Http\Controllers\ArticleController;

// A simple closure route — great for prototyping or tiny endpoints
Route::get('/ping', function () {
    // Returns a JSON response — Laravel wraps the array automatically
    return response()->json([
        'status'  => 'alive',
        'version' => app()->version(), // pulls the Laravel version from the container
    ]);
});

// A resourceful route — maps 7 CRUD actions to one controller in one line
// GET /articles          -> ArticleController@index
// GET /articles/{id}     -> ArticleController@show
// POST /articles         -> ArticleController@store
// PUT /articles/{id}     -> ArticleController@update
// DELETE /articles/{id}  -> ArticleController@destroy
Route::resource('articles', ArticleController::class);

// A route with middleware — only authenticated users reach this endpoint
Route::middleware('auth')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', function (Request $request) {
        // $request->user() is resolved by the container via the auth guard
        $currentUser = $request->user();

        return view('dashboard', [
            'userName'      => $currentUser->name,
            'articleCount'  => $currentUser->articles()->count(),
        ]);
    });
});

<?php

// FILE: app/Models/Article.php
// One class = one table. Laravel pluralises 'Article' to 'articles' automatically.

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\BelongsTo;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\HasMany;

class Article extends Model
{
    // Only these fields can be mass-assigned via Article::create([...]) or fill()
    // This prevents mass-assignment vulnerabilities — always define this
    protected $fillable = ['title', 'body', 'published_at', 'author_id'];

    // Cast 'published_at' to a Carbon datetime object automatically
    // so you can call $article->published_at->diffForHumans() etc.
    protected $casts = [
        'published_at' => 'datetime',
    ];

    // Relationship: an Article belongs to one Author (User)
    // Laravel infers the foreign key is 'author_id' by convention
    public function author(): BelongsTo
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(User::class, 'author_id');
    }

    // Relationship: an Article has many Comments
    public function comments(): HasMany
    {
        return $this->hasMany(Comment::class);
    }

    // A local scope — reusable query constraint
    // Usage: Article::published()->get()
    public function scopePublished($query)
    {
        return $query->whereNotNull('published_at')
                     ->where('published_at', '<=', now());
    }
}

// -------------------------------------------------------
// FILE: app/Http/Controllers/ArticleController.php
// Real-world usage: eager loading to avoid the N+1 problem

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Models\Article;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class ArticleController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        // with('author') eager-loads the author relationship in ONE extra query
        // instead of firing a new query per article (the N+1 problem)
        $publishedArticles = Article::published()
            ->with('author')           // eager load author
            ->withCount('comments')    // adds comments_count column to each result
            ->latest('published_at')   // ORDER BY published_at DESC
            ->paginate(15);            // automatically handles ?page= query string

        return view('articles.index', [
            'articles' => $publishedArticles,
        ]);
    }

    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        // Validate first — Laravel throws a 422 with JSON errors if this fails
        $validatedData = $request->validate([
            'title'        => 'required|string|max:200',
            'body'         => 'required|string',
            'published_at' => 'nullable|date',
        ]);

        // merge the authenticated user's ID — never trust a user-supplied author_id
        $article = Article::create(array_merge($validatedData, [
            'author_id' => $request->user()->id,
        ]));

        return redirect()->route('articles.show', $article)
                         ->with('success', 'Article published successfully.');
    }
}

{{-- FILE: resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php --}}
{{-- The master layout — every page on the site extends this --}}
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>@yield('page-title', 'TheCodeForge') — My Blog</title>
</head>
<body>
    <nav>
        {{-- @auth only renders its contents if a user is logged in --}}
        @auth
            <span>Welcome, {{ auth()->user()->name }}</span>
            <a href="{{ route('logout') }}">Logout</a>
        @else
            <a href="{{ route('login') }}">Login</a>
        @endauth
    </nav>

    <main>
        {{-- @yield marks the slot that child views fill in --}}
        @yield('content')
    </main>
</body>
</html>


{{-- FILE: resources/views/articles/index.blade.php --}}
{{-- Child view — it extends the layout and fills the 'content' slot --}}
@extends('layouts.app')

@section('page-title', 'Latest Articles')

@section('content')
    <h1>Published Articles</h1>

    {{-- Flash message from the controller's redirect()->with('success', ...) --}}
    @if(session('success'))
        <div class="alert alert-success">
            {{ session('success') }}
        </div>
    @endif

    @forelse($articles as $article)
        <article>
            <h2>
                {{-- route() generates /articles/42 — no hardcoded URLs --}}
                <a href="{{ route('articles.show', $article) }}">
                    {{ $article->title }}  {{-- auto-escaped: safe against XSS --}}
                </a>
            </h2>

            <p class="meta">
                By {{ $article->author->name }}
                &middot;
                {{-- Carbon's diffForHumans() gives '3 days ago' style output --}}
                {{ $article->published_at->diffForHumans() }}
                &middot;
                {{ $article->comments_count }} comment{{ $article->comments_count !== 1 ? 's' : '' }}
            </p>

            <p>{{ Str::limit($article->body, 200) }}</p>
        </article>
    @empty
        {{-- @forelse's @empty block handles the zero-results state cleanly --}}
        <p>No articles published yet. <a href="{{ route('articles.create') }}">Write one?</a></p>
    @endforelse

    {{-- $articles->links() renders Bootstrap/Tailwind pagination automatically --}}
    {{ $articles->links() }}
@endsection

<?php

/*
 |------------------------------------------------------------------
 | TERMINAL SESSION — typical Laravel development workflow
 |------------------------------------------------------------------
 */

// 1. Create a new Laravel project
// composer create-project laravel/laravel blog-platform
// cd blog-platform

// 2. Generate the Article model + migration + resource controller + form request in one shot
// php artisan make:model Article -mrc --requests
//
// This creates:
//   app/Models/Article.php
//   database/migrations/2024_01_15_create_articles_table.php
//   app/Http/Controllers/ArticleController.php  (with index/create/store/show/edit/update/destroy stubs)
//   app/Http/Requests/StoreArticleRequest.php
//   app/Http/Requests/UpdateArticleRequest.php


// 3. The generated migration — you fill in the columns:

// FILE: database/migrations/2024_01_15_000000_create_articles_table.php

use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;

return new class extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        Schema::create('articles', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->id();                           // BIGINT UNSIGNED AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY
            $table->foreignId('author_id')          // BIGINT UNSIGNED
                  ->constrained('users')            // adds FOREIGN KEY referencing users.id
                  ->cascadeOnDelete();              // delete articles when user is deleted
            $table->string('title', 200);
            $table->text('body');
            $table->timestamp('published_at')->nullable(); // null = draft
            $table->timestamps();                   // adds created_at and updated_at
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        // Rollback: drop the table cleanly
        Schema::dropIfExists('articles');
    }
};


// 4. The generated Form Request — move validation OUT of the controller:

// FILE: app/Http/Requests/StoreArticleRequest.php

namespace App\Http\Requests;

use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;

class StoreArticleRequest extends FormRequest
{
    // authorize() decides WHO can make this request
    // Return false to send a 403 Forbidden automatically
    public function authorize(): bool
    {
        return $this->user() !== null; // any logged-in user can create articles
    }

    // rules() defines validation — same rules as $request->validate() but reusable
    public function rules(): array
    {
        return [
            'title'        => ['required', 'string', 'max:200'],
            'body'         => ['required', 'string', 'min:50'],
            'published_at' => ['nullable', 'date', 'after_or_equal:today'],
        ];
    }

    // Optional: custom error messages
    public function messages(): array
    {
        return [
            'body.min' => 'Articles must be at least 50 characters long — give your readers something!',
        ];
    }
}