Basic Concepts of Laravel Every Beginner Developer Should Learn

Laravel is a powerful PHP framework that simplifies web development with its elegant syntax and rich features. If you're just starting with Laravel, understanding its core concepts will help you build applications efficiently.

In this blog, we’ll cover:

MVC Architecture
Routing in Laravel
Blade Templating Engine
Controllers
Database & Eloquent ORM
Migrations & Seeders
Middleware
Forms & Validation
Authentication
Artisan CLI

Let’s dive in!

1. MVC Architecture (Model-View-Controller)

Laravel follows the MVC pattern, which separates an application into three parts:

Model → Handles database logic (e.g., User.php).
View → Displays data (Blade templates, e.g., welcome.blade.php).
Controller → Manages user requests (e.g., UserController.php).

✅ Why is MVC important?

Keeps code organized and maintainable.
Separates business logic from presentation.

2. Routing in Laravel

Routes define URL endpoints and what happens when a user visits them.

Basic Route Example

// routes/web.php
Route::get('/hello', function () {
    return "Hello, Laravel!";
});

Visiting /hello will display "Hello, Laravel!".

Route Parameters

Route::get('/user/{id}', function ($id) {
    return "User ID: " . $id;
});

/user/5 → Output: "User ID: 5"

✅ Common Route Types:

Route::get() → For reading data.
Route::post() → For submitting forms.
Route::put() → For updates.
Route::delete() → For deletions.

3. Blade Templating Engine

Blade is Laravel’s simple yet powerful templating engine.

Basic Blade Syntax

<!-- resources/views/welcome.blade.php -->
<h1>Hello, {{ $name }}!</h1>

{{ $name }} → Outputs a PHP variable (escaped for security).

Extending Layouts (Template Inheritance)

<!-- resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php -->
<html>
<head><title>@yield('title')</title></head>
<body>
    @yield('content')
</body>
</html>

<!-- resources/views/home.blade.php -->
@extends('layouts.app')

@section('title', 'Home Page')

@section('content')
    <h1>Welcome to Laravel!</h1>
@endsection

✅ Why use Blade?

Reusable components (like headers, footers).
Clean separation of PHP and HTML.

4. Controllers

Controllers handle application logic (instead of putting everything in routes).

Creating a Controller

php artisan make:controller UserController

Defining a Controller Method

// app/Http/Controllers/UserController.php
public function show($id) {
    return "User ID: " . $id;
}

Linking Route to Controller

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

✅ Best Practice:

Keep controllers lean (move business logic to Models).

5. Database & Eloquent ORM

Laravel uses Eloquent ORM to interact with databases.

Defining a Model

php artisan make:model Post

Basic Eloquent Queries

// Get all posts
$posts = Post::all();

// Find a post by ID
$post = Post::find(1);

// Create a new post
Post::create(['title' => 'First Post']);

✅ Why Eloquent?

No need to write raw SQL queries.
Works with MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, SQL Server.

6. Migrations & Seeders

Migrations → Manage database schema.

php artisan make:migration create_posts_table

// database/migrations/xxxx_create_posts_table.php
Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->string('title');
    $table->timestamps();
});

Run migrations:

php artisan migrate

Seeders → Insert dummy data.

php artisan make:seeder PostsTableSeeder

// database/seeders/PostsTableSeeder.php
Post::create(['title' => 'Sample Post']);

Run seeders:

php artisan db:seed

7. Middleware

Middleware filters HTTP requests (e.g., authentication checks).

Example: Auth Middleware

// routes/web.php
Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
    return "Welcome to Dashboard!";
})->middleware('auth');

✅ Common Uses:

Authentication (auth middleware).
Admin checks (admin middleware).

8. Forms & Validation

Creating a Form (Blade)

<form method="POST" action="/post">
    @csrf
    <input type="text" name="title">
    <button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>

Validation in Controller

public function store(Request $request) {
    $validated = $request->validate([
        'title' => 'required|max:255',
    ]);
    // Store the post...
}

✅ Why Laravel Validation?

Prevents malicious data (SQL injection, XSS).
Easy error handling.

9. Authentication

Laravel provides built-in auth scaffolding:

php artisan make:auth

Or use Laravel Breeze/Jetstream:

composer require laravel/breeze --dev
php artisan breeze:install
npm install && npm run dev
php artisan migrate

✅ Key Features:

Login/Register system ready in minutes.
Password reset functionality.

10. Artisan CLI

Artisan is Laravel’s command-line tool for automating tasks.

Common Artisan Commands

Command	Description
`php artisan make:model Post`	Creates a new model
`php artisan make:controller PostController`	Creates a controller
`php artisan migrate`	Runs database migrations
`php artisan serve`	Starts development server
`php artisan tinker`	Interact with Laravel in REPL

✅ Why Artisan?

Speeds up development (no manual file creation).
Automates repetitive tasks.

Conclusion

These 10 fundamental Laravel concepts will help you get started with confidence:

MVC Architecture → Organizes code.
Routing → Handles URLs.
Blade → Frontend templating.
Controllers → Manage logic.
Eloquent ORM → Database interactions.
Migrations & Seeders → Manage DB structure & dummy data.
Middleware → Request filtering.
Forms & Validation → Secure data handling.
Authentication → User login system.
Artisan CLI → Automation tool.

Next Steps:

Build a simple blog with CRUD operations.
Explore Laravel relationships (hasMany, belongsTo).
Learn API development with Laravel Sanctum.

Happy coding! 🚀

📌 Need help? Drop your questions below! 👇