1. Laravel: What, Why......................................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1. Why choose Laravel: Pros and Cons............................................................................................................ 1

1.2. Laravel Framework VS Core PHP................................................................................................................... 2

2. Laravel Architecture....................................................................................................................................................... 3

3. Set up a simple to do list with Laravel and SQLite......................................................................................... 5

3.1. UML Diagram.......................................................................................................................................................... 6

3.2. routes/web.php...................................................................................................................................................... 6

3.3. app/Http/Controllers/TodoController.php.............................................................................................. 6

3.4. app/Models/Todo.php....................................................................................................................................... 7

3.5. resources/views/todos/index.blade.php................................................................................................... 7

3.6. resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php.................................................................................................... 8

4. References:......................................................................................................................................................................... 8

1. Laravel: What, Why

Laravel is a free, open-source PHP web framework that is widely used for building modern web applications. Think of it as a comprehensive toolkit that provides developers with a structured and efficient way to create complex, scalable, and secure web applications.

1.1. Why choose Laravel: Pros and Cons

Pros of Laravel	Cons of Laravel
Rapid Development	Learning Curve for Beginners
Elegant and Expressive Syntax	Performance Overhead
MVC Architecture	Frequent Updates
Robust Security Features	Resource-Heavy (for very small projects)
Eloquent ORM	Opinionated Nature
Blade Templating Engine	Limited Built-in Payment Gateway Support
Artisan Command-Line Interface (CLI)	Challenges with Legacy Systems
Active and Supportive Community
Scalability
Excellent Documentation
Unit Testing Support
API Development

1.2. Laravel Framework VS Core PHP

Feature	Laravel	Core PHP
Structure	An MVC structure	A modular structure
Code reusability	Beats this with code reusability	A faster development process
Flexibility	Strict development rules	Enhanced code flexibility
Caching	Facilitates cache back ends with multiple configurations	No caching mechanism
External dependency	External dependencies exist	No external dependencies
Security	Default authorization and authentication systems	Needs security rules to be integrated during development
Data communication	Data communication is authorized with security token	No default data communication authorization
Error and exception handling	Error and exception handling protocols are already configured	Does not support default error and exception handling facilities
Routing	Buit-in routing system	Manual routing setup
Templating Engine	Blade templating engine	No built-in templating engine
Database Access	Object-Relational Mapping (ORM)	Manual database querying
Testing	Robust testing suite (PHPUnit)	Limited testing support
Community	Large Laravel community with many resources and support	Large PHP developer community, but no specific Core PHP community
Scalability	Suitable for large-scale projects	Suitable for small to medium-sized projects
Learning Curve	An easier learning curve, with more approachable syntax	Steep learning curve, requires in-depth knowledge of PHP

2. Laravel Architecture

1. Request:

This is the initial input, representing a user's action or a system call that triggers the application's processing.

2. Routing (app/routing.php):

Function: Handles the incoming request based on its URL. It acts as the dispatcher, determining which part of the application should process the request.

3. Controller (app/controller):

Function: Once the request is routed, the Controller is responsible for handling the business logic. It "talks with the model to get the data object" and then "feeds [it] to the view." This means it orchestrates the interaction between the Model (for data) and the View (for presentation).

4. Model (app/model):

Function: "Sets and Gets data from database." The Model represents the data and the business logic related to that data. It interacts directly with the database, abstracting the database operations from the rest of the application. This often involves using an ORM (Object-Relational Mapper).

5. Query Builder:

Function: The diagram shows the Controller interacting with the Query Builder, which in turn interacts with the Database. This suggests that while the Model might handle high-level data operations, the Controller (or even the Model internally) can use the Query Builder for more specific or complex database queries. The Query Builder provides a convenient, fluent interface for building SQL queries.

6. Database:

Function: This is where all the application's data is stored and retrieved.

7. Migration:

Function: "Helps to create schema for database using schema builder." Migrations are like version control for your database. They allow you to easily modify and share the application's database schema.

8. Seeding:

Function: "Helps to populate testing data to database." Seeding allows you to populate your database with initial or test data, which is crucial for development and testing environments.

9. View (laravel/app/view):

Function: "Takes the ORM object which helps to get data from database." the View is responsible for presenting the data received from the Controller to the user. It doesn't directly take an ORM object to get data from the database; rather, it receives data (often in the form of objects) that has already been retrieved by the Model and processed by the Controller.

View Layers: The diagram further breaks down the View into <view>.blade.php and Main View File <layout>.blade.php. This illustrates Laravel's templating system (Blade):

<view>.blade.php: These are individual view files that contain the specific content for a particular page or component.

Main View File <layout>.blade.php: This is a master layout file that defines the common structure (e.g., header, footer, navigation) of your application. Individual view files extend this layout.

10. Response to User:

This is the final output, typically an HTML page or API response, sent back to the user after the application has processed the request and rendered the appropriate view.

3. Set up a simple to do list with Laravel and SQLite

3.1. UML Diagram

3.2. routes/web.php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

use App\Http\Controllers\TodoController;

Route::get('/', function () {

return redirect()->route('todos.index');

});

Route::get('/todos', [TodoController::class, 'index'])->name('todos.index');

Route::post('/todos', [TodoController::class, 'store'])->name('todos.store');

Route::patch('/todos/{todo}', [TodoController::class, 'update'])->name('todos.update');

Route::delete('/todos/{todo}', [TodoController::class, 'destroy'])->name('todos.destroy');

3.3. app/Http/Controllers/TodoController.php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

use App\Models\Todo;

class TodoController extends Controller

{

public function index()

{

$todos = Todo::all();

return view('todos.index', compact('todos'));

}

public function store(Request $request)

{

$request->validate([

'title' => 'required|string|max:255',

]);

Todo::create(['title' => $request->title]);

return redirect()->route('todos.index');

}

public function update(Request $request, Todo $todo)

{

$todo->update(['completed' => $request->has('completed')]);

return redirect()->route('todos.index');

}

public function destroy(Todo $todo)

{

$todo->delete();

return redirect()->route('todos.index');

}

3.4. app/Models/Todo.php

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Todo extends Model

{

protected $fillable = ['title', 'completed'];

}

3.5. resources/views/todos/index.blade.php

@extends('layouts.app')

@section('content')

<h1 class="mb-4">Simple To-Do List</h1>

@csrf

</div>

</form>

@forelse($todos as $todo)

@csrf

@method('PATCH')

<input type="checkbox" name="completed" onchange="this.form.submit()" {{ $todo->completed ? 'checked' : '' }}>

<span class="ms-2 {{ $todo->completed ? 'text-decoration-line-through' : '' }}">{{ $todo->title }}</span>

</form>

@csrf

@method('DELETE')

<button class="btn btn-danger btn-sm">Delete</button>

</form>

</li>

@empty

<li class="list-group-item">No tasks yet.</li>

@endforelse

</ul>

</div>

@endsection

3.6. resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php

<!DOCTYPE html>

<head>

<title>Simple To-Do List</title>

</head>

<body>

@yield('content')

</body>

</html>

4. References:

https://phppot.com/php/php-laravel-project-example/
https://tech.knolskape.com/10-quick-tips-to-get-better-at-laravel