Laravel 8 Routing Explained 🚀

Routing in Laravel 8 allows you to define how your application responds to HTTP requests. It maps URLs to controller methods or closures. Routes are defined in the routes/ directory, mainly in:

• routes/web.php (for web routes using a browser)
• routes/api.php (for API routes)

1. Defining Basic Routes

a) Basic GET Route

The simplest way to define a route is using Route::get(), which listens for GET requests.

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::get('/welcome', function () {
    return 'Welcome to Laravel 8!';
});

✅ When users visit /welcome, they will see Welcome to Laravel 8!.

b) Route with Parameters

Required Parameter

You can pass parameters in routes like this:

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

✅ Visiting /user/5 will output User ID: 5.

Optional Parameter

Make parameters optional by adding ? and setting a default value:

Route::get('/post/{slug?}', function ($slug = 'default-post') {
    return "Post: " . $slug;
});

✅ Visiting /post will output Post: default-post.

2. Routes with Controllers

Instead of defining logic in routes, Laravel allows routing through controllers.

a) Basic Controller Routing

Define a route that calls a controller method:

use App\Http\Controllers\UserController;

Route::get('/profile', [UserController::class, 'show']);

✅ This calls show() in UserController.php.

Controller Example (app/Http/Controllers/UserController.php):

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class UserController extends Controller
{
    public function show()
    {
        return "User Profile Page";
    }
}

b) Resource Controller (CRUD)

Laravel provides a resource controller for handling CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations.

use App\Http\Controllers\ProductController;

Route::resource('products', ProductController::class);

This automatically creates routes for: | Method | URI | Action | |---------|---------------|--------------| | GET | /products | index() | | GET | /products/create | create() | | POST | /products | store() | | GET | /products/{id} | show() | | GET | /products/{id}/edit | edit() | | PUT/PATCH | /products/{id} | update() | | DELETE | /products/{id} | destroy() |

Run this command to create a resource controller:

php artisan make:controller ProductController --resource

3. Named Routes

Laravel allows naming routes for easy reference:

Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
    return "Dashboard";
})->name('dashboard');

✅ Generate a URL using:

$url = route('dashboard');  // Returns "/dashboard"

✅ Redirect using:

return redirect()->route('dashboard');

4. Grouping Routes

a) Route Groups

To apply common middleware, prefix, or namespaces, use route groups.

Route::middleware(['auth'])->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
        return "User Dashboard";
    });

    Route::get('/settings', function () {
        return "User Settings";
    });
});

✅ Both /dashboard and /settings require authentication.

b) Route Prefixing

To apply a common prefix to routes:

Route::prefix('admin')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/users', function () {
        return "Admin Users";
    });

    Route::get('/reports', function () {
        return "Admin Reports";
    });
});

✅ URLs will be /admin/users and /admin/reports.

5. API Routes (routes/api.php)

Laravel automatically groups API routes under /api/.
Define API routes in routes/api.php:

use App\Http\Controllers\Api\UserController;

Route::get('/users', [UserController::class, 'index']);

✅ The full URL will be:

http://yourdomain.com/api/users

6. Route Model Binding

Instead of manually fetching models, Laravel allows route model binding.

use App\Models\User;
use App\Http\Controllers\UserController;

Route::get('/user/{user}', [UserController::class, 'show']);

✅ In UserController.php:

public function show(User $user)
{
    return $user; // Laravel automatically fetches user by ID
}

7. Redirect Routes

Redirect routes to another URL:

Route::redirect('/old-route', '/new-route', 301);

✅ Visiting /old-route redirects to /new-route.

8. Fallback Routes

Handle undefined routes using a fallback:

Route::fallback(function () {
    return "Page Not Found!";
});

✅ If no routes match, it shows "Page Not Found!".

9. Middleware in Routes

Apply middleware to a route:

Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
    return "Dashboard";
})->middleware('auth');

✅ Only authenticated users can access /dashboard.

Conclusion

Laravel 8 routing is powerful and flexible, allowing you to define routes for web and API endpoints, use controllers, apply middleware, and more! 🚀💡