What are named routes in Laravel?

In Laravel, named routes are a way to assign a specific name to a route so you can refer to it more easily in your application. Instead of using a hardcoded URL or path, you use the route's name, which makes your code more flexible and easier to maintain.

Here's a brief overview of how named routes work in Laravel:

Defining Named Routes

When you define a route in your web.php or api.php routes file, you can give it a name using the name method:

Route::get('/profile', 'ProfileController@show')->name('profile.show');

Using Named Routes

You can use the route name in various places in your application, such as in route generation, redirections, or when generating URLs. For example:

• Generating URLs:

  $url = route('profile.show');
  

• Redirection:

  return redirect()->route('profile.show');
  

• Generating Forms:

  <form action="{{ route('profile.show') }}" method="POST">
  

Benefits

1. Flexibility: If you ever change the URL structure of a route, you only need to update the route definition, not every place where the URL is used.
2. Readability: Named routes make your code more readable and self-explanatory.
3. Consistency: Ensures that all parts of your application refer to routes in a consistent manner.

Named routes are particularly useful in larger applications where URL structures might change or when you want to ensure that links and forms are always pointing to the correct routes.