Getting Started with Laravel: A Complete Beginner's Guide

Laravel is one of the most popular PHP frameworks in the world, and for good reason. It offers elegant syntax, powerful features, and a supportive community that makes web development both enjoyable and productive. If you're new to Laravel or PHP frameworks in general, this comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know to get started.

What is Laravel?

Laravel is a free, open-source PHP web application framework created by Taylor Otwell. It follows the model-view-controller (MVC) architectural pattern and provides a rich set of features that streamline web development. Think of Laravel as a toolbox that gives you pre-built tools to build web applications faster and more efficiently.

Why Choose Laravel?

Before diving into installation, let's understand why Laravel is such a popular choice:

Elegant Syntax: Clean, expressive syntax that's easy to read and write
Artisan Console: Powerful command-line tool for common tasks
Eloquent ORM: Beautiful ActiveRecord implementation for database interaction
Blade Templating: Powerful templating engine with inheritance
Built-in Authentication: Ready-to-use authentication system
Active Community: Large community of developers for support

Step 1: Prerequisites

Before installing Laravel, ensure you have the following installed:

PHP: Version 8.0 or higher
Composer: PHP dependency manager
Web Server: Apache, Nginx, or PHP's built-in server
Database: MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite

Step 2: Install Laravel

There are two ways to install Laravel:

Method 1: Using Laravel Installer

# Install Laravel globally
composer global require laravel/installer

# Create new Laravel project
laravel new my-first-app

Method 2: Using Composer

# Create new Laravel project with Composer
composer create-project laravel/laravel my-first-app

# Navigate to project directory
cd my-first-app

Step 3: Understand the Project Structure

Once Laravel is installed, you'll see the following directory structure:

my-first-app/
├── app/
├── bootstrap/
├── config/
├── database/
├── public/
├── resources/
├── routes/
└── storage/

Don't worry about understanding all these directories yet - we'll cover them in detail in another article.

Step 4: Start Development Server

Laravel includes a built-in development server that's perfect for local development:

# Navigate to your project directory
cd my-first-app

# Start development server
php artisan serve

You'll see output like:

INFO  Server running on [http://127.0.0.1:8000].

Open your browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000 to see your Laravel application.

Step 5: Create Your First Route

Routes define how your application responds to different URLs. Let's create a simple route:

Open routes/web.php
Add the following code:

<?php
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

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

// Or use a controller
Route::get('/home', [HomeController::class, 'index']);

Step 6: Create Your First Controller

Controllers handle the logic between models and views. Let's create a simple controller:

# Generate a new controller
php artisan make:controller HomeController

Now open app/Http/Controllers/HomeController.php and add:

<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class HomeController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        return view('welcome');
    }
}

Step 7: Create Your First View

Views are what users see in their browsers. Let's create a simple view:

Create a new file at resources/views/home.blade.php
Add the following content:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>My First Laravel App</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome to Laravel!</h1>
    <p>This is my first Laravel application.</p>
</body>
</html>

Step 8: Connect Controller to View

Update your controller to return the view:

<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;

class HomeController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        return view('home');
    }
}

Step 9: Run Database Migrations

Laravel makes database interactions easy. Run the migrations to create your database tables:

# Run migrations
php artisan migrate --force

Step 10: Set Up Authentication

Laravel makes authentication easy. Run:

# Generate authentication scaffolding
php artisan make:auth

# Run migrations
php artisan migrate

This will create login, registration, and password reset functionality.

Step 11: Essential Commands to Know

Here are some essential Artisan commands every Laravel developer should know:

# Create a new controller
php artisan make:controller UserController

# Create a new model
php artisan make:model Product

# Create a new migration
php artisan make:migration create_products_table

# Run migrations
php artisan migrate

# Clear cache
php artisan cache:clear

# Generate application key
php artisan key:generate

Step 12: Getting Help

If you get stuck, here are some great resources:

Official Documentation: laravel.com/docs
Laracasts: Video tutorials for Laravel
Stack Overflow: laravel tag
Discord/Slack: Laravel community channels

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've taken your first steps with Laravel. This guide covered the basics from installation to creating your first application, routes, controllers, views, and database operations.

Laravel is an incredibly powerful framework that can help you build amazing web applications. The key to learning Laravel is practice - keep building projects and experimenting with different features.

Remember that every expert was once a beginner. Take your time, don't be afraid to make mistakes, and enjoy the journey of learning Laravel!

Happy coding! 🚀

Getting Started with Laravel: A Complete Beginner's Guide