Getting Started with Laravel Tutorial | PanterAiLab

Laravel is one of the most popular PHP frameworks, known for its elegant syntax and powerful features. In this tutorial, we'll walk through setting up your first Laravel project and understanding its core concepts.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have:

PHP 8.2 or higher installed
Composer (PHP package manager)
A code editor (VS Code, PHPStorm, etc.)
Basic PHP knowledge

Installing Laravel

The easiest way to create a new Laravel project is using Composer:

composer create-project laravel/laravel my-first-app
cd my-first-app

Alternatively, you can use the Laravel installer:

composer global require laravel/installer
laravel new my-first-app

Project Structure

Let's explore the key directories in a Laravel project:

my-first-app/
├── app/                 # Application code
│   ├── Http/
│   │   ├── Controllers/ # Request handlers
│   │   └── Middleware/  # Request filters
│   ├── Models/          # Database models
│   └── Services/        # Business logic
├── config/              # Configuration files
├── database/            # Migrations and seeds
├── public/              # Web server entry point
├── resources/           # Views, CSS, JS
│   └── views/           # Blade templates
├── routes/              # Route definitions
│   └── web.php          # Web routes
└── storage/             # Logs, cache, uploads

Understanding MVC

Laravel follows the Model-View-Controller pattern:

Model: Represents data and business logic
View: Handles presentation (HTML/Blade templates)
Controller: Processes requests and coordinates Model/View

Creating Your First Route

Open routes/web.php and add a simple route:

<?php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('welcome');
});

Route::get('/hello', function () {
    return 'Hello, World!';
});

Route::get('/greet/{name}', function ($name) {
    return "Hello, {$name}!";
});

Start the development server:

php artisan serve

Visit http://localhost:8000/hello to see your route in action!

Creating a Controller

Controllers help organize your route logic. Generate one using Artisan:

php artisan make:controller PostController

This creates app/Http/Controllers/PostController.php:

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class PostController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        $posts = [
            ['title' => 'First Post', 'content' => 'Hello World'],
            ['title' => 'Second Post', 'content' => 'Laravel is great'],
        ];
        
        return view('posts.index', ['posts' => $posts]);
    }
    
    public function show($id)
    {
        // In a real app, fetch from database
        return view('posts.show', ['id' => $id]);
    }
}

Update your routes to use the controller:

use App\Http\Controllers\PostController;

Route::get('/posts', [PostController::class, 'index']);
Route::get('/posts/{id}', [PostController::class, 'show']);

Creating Views with Blade

Blade is Laravel's powerful templating engine. Create resources/views/posts/index.blade.php:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Blog Posts</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>All Posts</h1>
    
    @forelse($posts as $post)
        <article>
            <h2>{{ $post['title'] }}</h2>
            <p>{{ $post['content'] }}</p>
        </article>
    @empty
        <p>No posts found.</p>
    @endforelse
</body>
</html>

Blade Directives

Blade provides helpful directives:

Directive	Purpose
`{{ $var }}`	Echo escaped content
`{!! $var !!}`	Echo unescaped content
`@if` / `@else`	Conditionals
`@foreach`	Loops
`@include`	Include partial views
`@extends`	Extend layouts
`@yield`	Define sections

Working with Layouts

Create a base layout resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>@yield('title', 'My App')</title>
</head>
<body>
    <nav>
        <a href="/">Home</a>
        <a href="/posts">Posts</a>
    </nav>
    
    <main>
        @yield('content')
    </main>
    
    <footer>
        <p>&copy; {{ date('Y') }} My App</p>
    </footer>
</body>
</html>

Use it in your views:

@extends('layouts.app')

@section('title', 'Blog Posts')

@section('content')
    <h1>All Posts</h1>
    
    @foreach($posts as $post)
        <article>
            <h2>{{ $post['title'] }}</h2>
            <p>{{ $post['content'] }}</p>
        </article>
    @endforeach
@endsection

Database Basics

Configure your database in .env:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=my_app
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

Creating a Migration

php artisan make:migration create_posts_table

Edit the migration file:

public function up()
{
    Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->id();
        $table->string('title');
        $table->text('content');
        $table->timestamps();
    });
}

Run the migration:

php artisan migrate

Creating a Model

php artisan make:model Post

Now you can use Eloquent ORM:

use App\Models\Post;

// Create
$post = Post::create([
    'title' => 'My Post',
    'content' => 'Content here'
]);

// Read
$posts = Post::all();
$post = Post::find(1);

// Update
$post->update(['title' => 'Updated Title']);

// Delete
$post->delete();

Next Steps

Now that you understand the basics, explore:

Form Handling - Request validation and CSRF protection
Authentication - Laravel Breeze or Jetstream
API Development - Building RESTful APIs
Testing - PHPUnit and feature tests
Deployment - Laravel Forge or manual deployment

Conclusion

Laravel provides an excellent foundation for building modern PHP applications. Its elegant syntax, powerful features, and extensive ecosystem make it a great choice for projects of any size.

Ready to dive deeper? Check out our other tutorials or the official Laravel documentation.

Getting Started with Laravel: A Complete Beginner's Guide