Set Up Laravel Project from Scratch

Laravel Setup Guide

Laravel is a robust PHP framework with a simple and elegant syntax that makes developing web applications quick and simple. Whether you are new to web development or an experienced developer looking to try Laravel, this step-by-step guide will walk you through the process of setting up a Laravel project from scratch.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have these installed on your computer:

PHP (>= 7.3): Laravel requires PHP 7.3 or later.
Composer: A dependency manager for PHP.
Node.js and npm: Necessary for managing front-end assets.
Git: Version control system to manage your project’s code.
Text Editor or IDE: Visual Studio Code, PHP Storm, or any other text editor.

Step 1: Install Composer

Composer is essential for managing Laravel dependencies. You can download and install Composer from its official website: getcomposer.org. After installation, verify Composer by running:

composer -v

A list of commands and the Composer version should be visible.

Step 2: Create a Laravel Project

You can create a Laravel project using Composer:

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel project-name

Step 3: Configure Environment Settings

Navigate into your project directory:

cd project-name

Laravel uses a .env file for environment configuration. This file contains various settings such as database configuration, application URL, and more. Laravel provides a default .env file. Open it and configure your database settings:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql 
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1 
DB_PORT=3306 
DB_DATABASE=your_database_name 
DB_USERNAME=your_username 
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

Check that your real database credentials are entered in the placeholders.

Step 4: Generate Application Key

Laravel uses an application key for security purposes. You need to generate this key by running:

php artisan key:generate

This sets the APP_KEY value in your .env file.

Step 5: Set Up Database

Before migrating the default database tables, ensure your database is running. Then, run the following command to migrate the default Laravel tables:

php artisan migrate

This command creates the necessary tables for user authentication and password resets.

Step 6: Serve the Application

You can now serve your Laravel application using the built-in PHP development server:

php artisan serve

This command starts a development server at https://localhost:8000. Open this URL in your web browser to see the default Laravel welcome page.

Step 7: Set Up Front-End Assets

Laravel integrates well with front-end build tools like Laravel Mix, which is built on top of Webpack. First, install the necessary Node.js dependencies:

npm install

Laravel Mix is configured in the webpack.mix.js file. To compile your assets (CSS and JavaScript), run:

npm run dev

For production builds, use:

npm run prod

Step 8: Set Up Version Control

Using version control for your projects is a good idea. Create a Git repository and push the first content:

git init git add . git commit -m "Initial commit"

Step 9: Customize Your Application

Now that your Laravel project is set up, you can start customizing it to fit your needs. Here are a few common tasks:

Creating Routes: Define routes in the routes/web.php file.
Creating Controllers: Use Artisan to create controllers:
```
php artisan make:controller YourControllerName
```
Creating Views: Store your Blade templates in the resources/views directory.
Working with Models: Create Eloquent models to interact with your database.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've successfully set up a Laravel project from scratch. This guide covered the essential steps, from installing Composer to setting up front-end assets and version control. Laravel's extensive documentation and community resources are always available to help you as you continue developing your application. Happy coding!