Routing

routes/web.php is your React Router / Vue Router config - but for the server. You've already built the toy version.

Basic routes

<?php

// routes/web.php

use App\Http\Controllers\PostController;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

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

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

Route::get('/posts', [PostController::class, 'index'])->name('posts.index');
Route::post('/posts', [PostController::class, 'store'])->name('posts.store');

Comments for the code above:

• Closures are fine for tiny experiments; controllers scale better
• {name} is the same idea as your mini-router params
• ->name('posts.index') gives you stable links (route('posts.index')) so URLs can change without hunting strings

Verb helpers

get, post, put, patch, delete, options, and match / any. Browser forms only do GET/POST natively - Laravel spoofs PUT/PATCH/DELETE via _method (more in the forms chapter).

Groups, prefixes, middleware

<?php

Route::middleware(['auth'])->prefix('dashboard')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/', [DashboardController::class, 'index'])->name('dashboard');
    Route::resource('posts', PostController::class);
});

Route::resource wires the classic 7 REST actions (index, create, store, show, edit, update, destroy). Run php artisan route:list after - you'll see them.

Route model binding

<?php

Route::get('/posts/{post}', function (Post $post) {
    return view('posts.show', compact('post'));
});

If {post} is an id (by default), Laravel fetches Post::findOrFail($id) for you. 404 if missing. Feels like magic the first time - it's just a resolver hooked into the router.

web vs api

• routes/web.php - sessions, cookies, CSRF (browser apps)
• routes/api.php - typically stateless / token auth, JSON (when present in your version's skeleton)

Same router; different default middleware stacks.

FE comparison

Front-end router	Laravel
<Route path="/posts/:id">	/posts/{post}
nested layouts	route groups + Blade layouts
loaders	controller / route action
link helpers	route('name'), url('/…')

Next: putting logic in controllers instead of fat closures.

Best,

-- ł.