Laravel: Introduction

Laravel is an open-source PHP framework that follows the MVC pattern, designed to make web development more enjoyable and productive.

Installation

composer create-project laravel/laravel my-project
cd my-project
php artisan serve

Routing

// routes/web.php
Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('welcome');
});

Route::get('/users/{id}', function ($id) {
    return "User: $id";
});

Route::post('/contact', [ContactController::class, 'store']);

Eloquent ORM

// Model
class User extends Model {
    protected $fillable = ['name', 'email', 'password'];
    
    public function posts() {
        return $this->hasMany(Post::class);
    }
}

// Query
$users = User::where('active', true)->orderBy('name')->get();
$user = User::find(1);

Middleware

// app/Http/Middleware/CheckAge.php
public function handle($request, Closure $next) {
    if ($request->age < 18) {
        return redirect('home');
    }
    return $next($request);
}

Conclusion

Laravel simplifies PHP development with powerful tools like Eloquent, migrations and the built-in authentication system.