Creating a RESTful API with Laravel

Introduction

In this tutorial, we will be creating a RESTful API using Laravel, a popular PHP web framework. A RESTful API allows for easy communication between client-side applications and servers. Laravel provides a robust set of tools to create and manage APIs quickly and easily.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, you should have the following installed:

• Composer
• Laravel

You should also have a basic understanding of PHP and web development.

Steps

1). Create a new Laravel project

laravel new my-api

or

composer create-project laravel/laravel my-api

2). Create a new controller for our API endpoints

php artisan make:controller ApiController

3). Define our API routes in routes/api.php

use App\Http\Controllers\ApiController;

Route::get('/users', [ApiController::class, 'getUsers']);
Route::get('/users/{id}', [ApiController::class, 'getUserById']);
Route::post('/users', [ApiController::class, 'createUser']);
Route::put('/users/{id}', [ApiController::class, 'updateUser']);
Route::delete('/users/{id}', [ApiController::class, 'deleteUser']);

4). Define our API methods in app/Http/Controllers/ApiController.php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

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

class ApiController extends Controller
{
    public function getUsers()
    {
        return User::all();
    }

    public function getUserById($id)
    {
        return User::find($id);
    }

    public function createUser(Request $request)
    {
        $user = new User;
        $user->name = $request->input('name');
        $user->email = $request->input('email');
        $user->password = $request->input('password');
        $user->save();

        return $user;
    }

    public function updateUser(Request $request, $id)
    {
        $user = User::find($id);
        $user->name = $request->input('name');
        $user->email = $request->input('email');
        $user->password = $request->input('password');
        $user->save();

        return $user;
    }

    public function deleteUser($id)
    {
        $user = User::find($id);
        $user->delete();

        return response()->noContent();
    }
}

5). Database configuration in .env file

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=your_database_name
DB_USERNAME=your_database_user_name
DB_PASSWORD=your_database_password

6). To create the database, please open the terminal inside the project and run this command.

php artisan migrate

7). Test our API using a tool like Postman
Before testing, you'll need to serve the project.

php artisan serve

Once that's done, you can obtain the project server URL. Append "/api/" to the project link and use the resulting link to run the test.

• GET /users to retrieve all users
• GET /users/{id} to retrieve a specific user
• POST /users to create a new user
• PUT /users/{id} to update an existing user
• DELETE /users/{id} to delete a user

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we learned how to create a RESTful API with Laravel. We covered creating a new Laravel project, defining API routes and methods, and testing our API using a tool like Postman. Laravel provides a powerful and intuitive framework for creating and managing APIs, making it an excellent choice for web development projects.

Example project:-
restful_api By J-Sandaruwan

Thank you,
J-Sandaruwan.
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