What is Laravel - Controllers

What Are Controllers in Laravel?

Controllers are classes defined in the App\Http\Controllers namespace. They group related request-handling logic into a single class, improving code organization.

Types of Controllers

Single-Action Controllers

Controllers with a single method, typically invoked using the __invoke method.

php artisan make:controller SingleActionController --invokable

Resource Controllers

Basically Resource controllers create for crud operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations.

php artisan make:controller BlogController --resource

Creating Controllers

To create a new controller:

php artisan make:controller BlogController

Routes and Controllers

You can map routes to controller methods using Route::get, Route::post, etc.

use App\Http\Controllers\BlogController;

Route::get('/blogs', [BlogController::class, 'index']);

For resource routes:

use App\Http\Controllers\BlogController;

Route::resource('blogs', BlogController::class);

Controller Methods

A standard resource controller includes the following methods:

index() - Display a listing of the resource.
create() - Show the form for creating a new resource.
store() - Save a newly created resource in storage.
show($id) - Display the specified resource.
edit($id) - Show the form for editing the specified resource.
update($id) - Update the specified resource in storage.
destroy($id) - Remove the specified resource from storage.

Example: Blog Controller

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

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

class BlogController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        $blogs = Blog::latest()->get();
        return view('blogs.index', compact('blogs'));
    }

    public function show($id)
    {
        $blog = Blog::findOrFail($id);
        return view('blogs.show', compact('blog'));
    }
}

Integrating with Tailwind CSS

Tailwind CSS Blog Index View:

        <!DOCTYPE html>
        <html lang="en">
        <head>
            <title>Blogs</title>
            <script src="https://cdn.tailwindcss.com"></script>
        </head>
        <body class="bg-gray-100 text-gray-800">
            <div class="container mx-auto px-4 py-8">
                <h1 class="text-4xl font-bold mb-8 text-center">Blog Posts</h1>
                <div class="grid gap-6 md:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3">
                    @foreach($blogs as $blog)
                    <div class="bg-white rounded-lg shadow-md overflow-hidden">
                        <img src="{{ $blog->thumbnail }}" alt="Thumbnail" class="w-full h-48 object-cover">
                        <div class="p-4">
                            <h2 class="text-2xl font-semibold mb-2">{{ $blog->title }}</h2>
                            <p class="text-gray-600 mb-4">{{ Str::limit($blog->description, 100) }}</p>
                            <a href="{{ route('blogs.show', $blog->id) }}" class="text-blue-500 hover:underline">
                                Read More
                            </a>
                        </div>
                    </div>
                    @endforeach
                </div>
            </div>
        </body>
        </html>

Best Practices

Use resource controllers for RESTful APIs.
Group routes by functionality for better organization.
Use middleware for authentication and authorization.
Avoid placing business logic in controllers—use services or repositories instead.
Utilize route model binding for cleaner code.