Comprehensive Laravel Development Guide

Table of Contents

  1. Initial Setup
  2. Project Creation
  3. Development Environment
  4. Database Operations
  5. Component Generation
  6. Localization
  7. Model and Resource Generation
  8. Mail Configuration
  9. Event Handling
  10. Best Practices
  11. Common Issues and Solutions

Initial Setup

Environment Configuration

# Add Composer's vendor bin directory to PATH

export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.config/composer/vendor/bin

System Requirements

sudo apt install php8.3-bcmath -y

Project Creation

There are two methods to create a new Laravel project:

Method 1: Direct Creation

composer create-project laravel/laravel first-app

Method 2: Using Laravel Installer

# Install Laravel installer globally
composer global require laravel/installer

# Create new project
laravel new second-app

Development Environment

Project Setup

cd first-app
composer install && npm install

Starting Development Server

# Standard development server
php artisan serve

# Custom host and port
php artisan serve --host=192.168.85.138 --port=8000

# Development with Vite
composer run dev

Database Operations

Migration Commands

# Create new migration
php artisan make:migration create_users_table

# Run migrations
php artisan migrate

# Reset Database
php artisan db:wipe          # Drop all tables
php artisan migrate:fresh    # Drop all tables and re-run migrations
php artisan migrate:rollback # Rollback last migration

Default Migrations

Laravel automatically creates:

Component Generation

Provider Generation

# Generate a new service provider
php artisan make:provider RouteServiceProvider

View Components

php artisan make:component layout --view

Localization

Language Setup

# Install language package
composer require laravel-lang/common --dev

# Add new language (e.g., Turkish)
php artisan lang:add tr

Model and Resource Generation

Full Resource Generation

# Generate model with all resources (-a flag)

php artisan make:model Post -a
# This creates:
## - Model
## - Factory
## - Migration
## - Seeder
## - Controller
## - Policy

Route Management

# View all registered routes
php artisan route:list

# Create storage symbolic link
php artisan storage:link

Mail Configuration

# Generate mail class
php artisan make:mail WelcomeMail

Timezone Configuration

# Set timezone in .env
APP_TIMEZONE=Europe/Istanbul

# Clear configuration cache
php artisan config:clear
php artisan optimize:clear

Event Handling

Event and Listener Setup

# Create event
php artisan make:event UserSubscribed

# Create listeners
php artisan make:listener SendSubscriberEmail
php artisan make:listener UpdateSubscribersTable

# Create subscriber table
php artisan make:migration create_subscribers_table
php artisan migrate

Controller Generation

# Create new controller
php artisan make:controller ResetPasswordController

Best Practices

  1. Always run php artisan optimize:clear after changing configuration files
  2. Use migration system for all database changes
  3. Implement proper event handling for decoupled architecture
  4. Keep controllers thin and models fat
  5. Use artisan commands for generating boilerplate code
  6. Implement proper localization from the start
  7. Always secure your routes and controllers with proper middleware

Cache Management

# Clear route cache
php artisan route:clear

# Clear application cache
php artisan cache:clear

# Clear config cache
php artisan config:clear

Common Issues and Solutions

  1. If composer commands fail, try:
    • Clearing composer cache
    • Updating composer
    • Checking PHP version compatibility
  2. If migrations fail:
    • Check database credentials
    • Ensure proper database permissions
    • Verify migration syntax
  3. For permission issues:
    • Check storage folder permissions
    • Verify bootstrap/cache permissions
    • Ensure proper .env configuration