Basic Routing

Last modified on: September 2, 2025

<h1 data-start="132" data-end="168">🚀 Laravel Routing and Controllers</h1>
<p data-start="170" data-end="366">Laravel&rsquo;s <strong data-start="180" data-end="191">Routing</strong> and <strong data-start="196" data-end="211">Controllers</strong> form the backbone of how your application responds to incoming HTTP requests. Together, they define <em data-start="312" data-end="363">what should happen when a specific URL is visited</em>.</p>
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<h2 data-start="373" data-end="411">🔹 1. What is Routing in Laravel?</h2>
<p data-start="413" data-end="572">Routing is the process of mapping a <strong data-start="449" data-end="456">URL</strong> or <strong data-start="460" data-end="472">endpoint</strong> to specific <strong data-start="485" data-end="494">logic</strong> (usually a function or controller action).<br data-start="537" data-end="540" />All routes are defined inside:</p>
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<p data-start="576" data-end="629"><strong data-start="576" data-end="596"><code data-start="578" data-end="594">routes/web.php</code></strong> &rarr; For web pages (HTML, views).</p>
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<p data-start="632" data-end="683"><strong data-start="632" data-end="652"><code data-start="634" data-end="650">routes/api.php</code></strong> &rarr; For APIs (JSON responses).</p>
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<h3 data-start="690" data-end="718">✅ Example: Basic Route</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>// routes/web.php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::get('/', function () {
    return "Welcome to Laravel!";
});</code></pre>
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<p data-start="858" data-end="934">➡️ Visiting <code data-start="870" data-end="894">http://localhost:8000/</code> will display <strong data-start="908" data-end="931">Welcome to Laravel!</strong>.</p>
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<h3 data-start="941" data-end="979">✅ Example: Route with Parameters</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>Route::get('/user/{id}', function ($id) {
    return "User ID: " . $id;
});</code></pre>
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<p data-start="1069" data-end="1133">➡️ Visiting <code data-start="1081" data-end="1112">http://localhost:8000/user/10</code> &rarr; <strong data-start="1115" data-end="1130">User ID: 10</strong>.</p>
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<h3 data-start="1140" data-end="1169">✅ Example: Named Routes</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>Route::get('/profile', function () {
    return "This is profile page";
})-&gt;name('profile');

// Using named route in Blade
Go to Profile</code></pre>
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<h2 data-start="1363" data-end="1406">🔹 2. What are Controllers in Laravel?</h2>
<p data-start="1408" data-end="1500">Controllers organize route logic into <strong data-start="1446" data-end="1466">separate classes</strong> inside <code data-start="1474" data-end="1497">app/Http/Controllers/</code>.</p>
<p data-start="1502" data-end="1602">Instead of writing logic inside <code data-start="1534" data-end="1543">web.php</code>, you define it in a <strong data-start="1564" data-end="1578">Controller</strong> for better structure.</p>
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<h3 data-start="1609" data-end="1638">✅ Creating a Controller</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>php artisan make:controller UserController</code></pre>
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<p data-start="1696" data-end="1755">This generates <code data-start="1711" data-end="1752">app/Http/Controllers/UserController.php</code>.</p>
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<h3 data-start="1762" data-end="1796">✅ Example: Controller Method</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class UserController extends Controller
{
    public function show($id)
    {
        return "User ID from Controller: " . $id;
    }
}</code></pre>
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<h3 data-start="2014" data-end="2044">✅ Route Using Controller</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>use App\Http\Controllers\UserController;

Route::get('/user/{id}', [UserController::class, 'show']);</code></pre>
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<p data-start="2159" data-end="2236">➡️ Visiting <code data-start="2171" data-end="2201">http://localhost:8000/user/5</code> &rarr; <strong data-start="2204" data-end="2234">User ID from Controller: 5</strong></p>
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<h2 data-start="2243" data-end="2274">🔹 3. Types of Controllers</h2>
<h3 data-start="2276" data-end="2304">🟢 Resource Controller</h3>
<p data-start="2305" data-end="2336">Used for <strong data-start="2314" data-end="2322">CRUD</strong> operations.</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>php artisan make:controller PostController --resource</code></pre>
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<p data-start="2405" data-end="2478">Generates methods: <code data-start="2424" data-end="2475">index, create, store, show, edit, update, destroy</code>.</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>Route::resource('posts', PostController::class);</code></pre>
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<h3 data-start="2546" data-end="2579">🟢 Single-Action Controller</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>php artisan make:controller ContactController --invokable</code></pre>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>class ContactController extends Controller
{
    public function __invoke()
    {
        return "Single action controller called!";
    }
}

Route::get('/contact', ContactController::class);</code></pre>
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<h2 data-start="2861" data-end="2906">🔹 4. Middleware in Routes &amp; Controllers</h2>
<p data-start="2908" data-end="2981">Middleware runs <strong data-start="2924" data-end="2943">before or after</strong> a request. Example: authentication.</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>Route::get('/dashboard', [DashboardController::class, 'index'])
     -&gt;middleware('auth');</code></pre>
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<h2 data-start="3091" data-end="3146">🔹 5. Example Workflow (Route + Controller + View)</h2>
<h3 data-start="3148" data-end="3174">Step 1: Define Route</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>Route::get('/greeting/{name}', [GreetingController::class, 'sayHello']);</code></pre>
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<h3 data-start="3261" data-end="3292">Step 2: Create Controller</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>namespace App\Http\Controllers;

class GreetingController extends Controller
{
    public function sayHello($name)
    {
        return view('greeting', ['name' =&gt; $name]);
    }
}</code></pre>
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<h3 data-start="3487" data-end="3557">Step 3: Create Blade View (<code data-start="3518" data-end="3554">resources/views/greeting.blade.php</code>)</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>

Hello, {{ $name }}! Welcome to Laravel.

</code></pre>
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<p data-start="3715" data-end="3807">➡️ Visiting <code data-start="3727" data-end="3764">http://localhost:8000/greeting/Amit</code> &rarr;<br data-start="3766" data-end="3769" /><strong data-start="3769" data-end="3805">Hello, Amit! Welcome to Laravel.</strong></p>
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<h1 data-start="3814" data-end="3828">📌 Summary</h1>
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<p data-start="3832" data-end="3885"><strong data-start="3832" data-end="3842">Routes</strong> &rarr; Define <em data-start="3852" data-end="3882">what URL maps to what action</em>.</p>
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<p data-start="3888" data-end="3936"><strong data-start="3888" data-end="3903">Controllers</strong> &rarr; Organize logic into classes.</p>
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<p data-start="3939" data-end="3988"><strong data-start="3939" data-end="3948">Views</strong> &rarr; Display data using Blade templates.</p>
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<p data-start="3991" data-end="4047"><strong data-start="3991" data-end="4005">Middleware</strong> &rarr; Add filters like auth, logging, CSRF.</p>
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<p data-start="4054" data-end="4122">✅ This structure keeps code <strong data-start="4082" data-end="4119">clean, maintainable, and scalable</strong>.</p>

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