Getting Started with Laravel: A Beginner's Guide

# Install Laravel installer globally
composer global require laravel/installer

# Create a new Laravel project
laravel new my-awesome-app

# OR use Composer directly
composer create-project laravel/laravel my-awesome-app

# Navigate to project directory
cd my-awesome-app

# Start the development server
php artisan serve

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

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

class UserController extends Controller
{
    /**
     * Display a listing of users.
     */
    public function index()
    {
        $users = User::all();
        return view('users.index', compact('users'));
    }

    /**
     * Show the form for creating a new user.
     */
    public function create()
    {
        return view('users.create');
    }

    /**
     * Store a newly created user.
     */
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $validated = $request->validate([
            'name' => 'required|string|max:255',
            'email' => 'required|email|unique:users',
            'password' => 'required|min:8|confirmed',
        ]);

        $user = User::create([
            'name' => $validated['name'],
            'email' => $validated['email'],
            'password' => bcrypt($validated['password']),
        ]);

        return redirect()
            ->route('users.show', $user)
            ->with('success', 'User created successfully!');
    }

    /**
     * Display the specified user.
     */
    public function show(User $user)
    {
        return view('users.show', compact('user'));
    }
}

<?php

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\HasFactory;

class User extends Model
{
    use HasFactory;

    // Mass assignable attributes
    protected $fillable = [
        'name',
        'email',
        'password',
    ];

    // Hidden from arrays/JSON
    protected $hidden = [
        'password',
        'remember_token',
    ];

    // Attribute casting
    protected $casts = [
        'email_verified_at' => 'datetime',
        'password' => 'hashed',
    ];

    // Relationship: User has many posts
    public function posts()
    {
        return $this->hasMany(Post::class);
    }

    // Relationship: User belongs to many roles
    public function roles()
    {
        return $this->belongsToMany(Role::class);
    }
}

// Retrieve all users
$users = User::all();

// Find by primary key
$user = User::find(1);
$user = User::findOrFail(1); // Throws 404 if not found

// Query with conditions
$activeUsers = User::where('status', 'active')
    ->where('age', '>', 18)
    ->orderBy('created_at', 'desc')
    ->get();

// First matching record
$admin = User::where('role', 'admin')->first();

// Create new record
$user = User::create([
    'name' => 'John Doe',
    'email' => 'john@example.com',
    'password' => bcrypt('password'),
]);

// Update existing record
$user->update(['name' => 'Jane Doe']);

// Delete record
$user->delete();

// Soft delete (if enabled)
$user->delete(); // Marks as deleted
User::withTrashed()->get(); // Include soft deleted

// Eager loading relationships
$users = User::with(['posts', 'roles'])->get();

// Pagination
$users = User::paginate(15);

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>@yield('title', 'My Laravel App')</title>
    @vite(['resources/css/app.css', 'resources/js/app.js'])
</head>
<body>
    <nav>
        @include('partials.navigation')
    </nav>

    <main>
        @yield('content')
    </main>

    <footer>
        @include('partials.footer')
    </footer>
</body>
</html>

@extends('layouts.app')

@section('title', 'All Users')

@section('content')
    <h1>Users</h1>

    {{-- Display success message --}}
    @if(session('success'))
        <div class="alert alert-success">
            {{ session('success') }}
        </div>
    @endif

    {{-- Loop through users --}}
    @forelse($users as $user)
        <div class="user-card">
            <h2>{{ $user->name }}</h2>
            <p>{{ $user->email }}</p>
            
            @if($user->isAdmin())
                <span class="badge">Admin</span>
            @endif
            
            <a href="{{ route('users.show', $user) }}">
                View Profile
            </a>
        </div>
    @empty
        <p>No users found.</p>
    @endforelse

    {{-- Pagination links --}}
    {{ $users->links() }}
@endsection

public function store(Request $request)
{
    $validated = $request->validate([
        'title' => 'required|string|max:255',
        'email' => 'required|email|unique:users,email',
        'body' => 'required|min:10',
        'category_id' => 'required|exists:categories,id',
        'tags' => 'array',
        'tags.*' => 'exists:tags,id',
        'publish_date' => 'nullable|date|after:today',
        'image' => 'nullable|image|mimes:jpg,png|max:2048',
    ]);

    // If validation fails, Laravel automatically redirects back
    // with errors. If it passes, continue with validated data.
    
    Post::create($validated);
    
    return redirect()->route('posts.index')
        ->with('success', 'Post created successfully!');
}

# Install Laravel Breeze
composer require laravel/breeze --dev

# Install Breeze scaffolding
php artisan breeze:install

# Choose your stack:
# - blade (Traditional server-side)
# - react (React with Inertia)
# - vue (Vue with Inertia)
# - api (API only)

# Install dependencies and build assets
npm install && npm run dev

# Run migrations
php artisan migrate