Laravel 8 Controllers Explained with Examples 🚀

A controller in Laravel is used to handle application logic and organize code better by separating business logic from routes. Controllers allow you to group related request handling logic into a single class.

1. Creating a Controller

To create a controller, run:

php artisan make:controller UserController

✅ This generates a new controller in:

app/Http/Controllers/UserController.php

2. Basic Controller Example

Step 1: Define a Route (routes/web.php)

use App\Http\Controllers\UserController;

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

Step 2: Define Controller Method (app/Http/Controllers/UserController.php)

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class UserController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        return "Welcome to the User Dashboard!";
    }
}

✅ Visiting /user in a browser will display:
"Welcome to the User Dashboard!"

3. Passing Data to Views

Instead of returning a string, controllers often return a view.

Step 1: Define a Route

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

Step 2: Create a View (resources/views/profile.blade.php)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>User Profile</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome, {{ $name }}!</h1>
</body>
</html>

Step 3: Modify Controller Method

public function profile()
{
    $name = "John Doe";
    return view('profile', compact('name'));
}

✅ Visiting /profile will render the profile.blade.php view with "Welcome, John Doe!".

4. Controller with Route Parameters

Step 1: Define a Route with a Parameter

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

Step 2: Modify Controller Method

public function show($id)
{
    return "User ID: " . $id;
}

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

5. Controller with Route Model Binding

Instead of manually fetching a model, Laravel automatically injects it.

Step 1: Define a Route

use App\Models\User;

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

Step 2: Modify Controller Method

public function show(User $user)
{
    return $user; // Automatically fetches user from the database
}

✅ Laravel will automatically find the user by ID and return its details.

6. Resource Controller (CRUD)

A resource controller handles CRUD operations efficiently.

Step 1: Create a Resource Controller

php artisan make:controller ProductController --resource

✅ This generates:

app/Http/Controllers/ProductController.php

Step 2: Define a Resource Route

use App\Http\Controllers\ProductController;

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

This automatically creates routes for: | HTTP Verb | URI | Action | Method in Controller | |-----------|---------------|--------------|---------------------| | GET | /products | View all | index() | | GET | /products/create | Show form | create() | | POST | /products | Store data | store() | | GET | /products/{id} | Show single | show() | | GET | /products/{id}/edit | Edit form | edit() | | PUT/PATCH | /products/{id} | Update data | update() | | DELETE | /products/{id} | Delete data | destroy() |

7. Example CRUD Methods in ProductController

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

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

class ProductController extends Controller
{
    // Show all products
    public function index()
    {
        $products = Product::all();
        return view('products.index', compact('products'));
    }

    // Show form to create a product
    public function create()
    {
        return view('products.create');
    }

    // Store new product in database
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        Product::create($request->all());
        return redirect()->route('products.index')->with('success', 'Product created successfully!');
    }

    // Show single product
    public function show(Product $product)
    {
        return view('products.show', compact('product'));
    }

    // Show form to edit product
    public function edit(Product $product)
    {
        return view('products.edit', compact('product'));
    }

    // Update product details
    public function update(Request $request, Product $product)
    {
        $product->update($request->all());
        return redirect()->route('products.index')->with('success', 'Product updated successfully!');
    }

    // Delete product
    public function destroy(Product $product)
    {
        $product->delete();
        return redirect()->route('products.index')->with('success', 'Product deleted successfully!');
    }
}

8. Middleware in Controller

To restrict access, you can apply middleware inside a controller.

Applying Middleware to Specific Methods

public function __construct()
{
    $this->middleware('auth')->only(['create', 'edit', 'destroy']);
}

✅ Only authenticated users can access create, edit, and destroy methods.

Conclusion

Laravel controllers make your application clean, scalable, and organized. They allow better separation of routes, views, and business logic. 🎯💡



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