In this series, we got a broad overview of working with Laravel, covering the following topics:
- Intro & Installation
- Routes
- Controllers
- Views & Blade
- Database & Migrations
- Eloquent Models & Seeding
- Eloquent & Collections
- Form Processing
Along the way, we built a simple site that demonstrates the two essential ingredients of any web application: form processing and database interaction.
Where should you go from here?
Moving forward, here are some suggestions on paths you can take to continue to learn Laravel...
Path 1
Give the documentation a full read, at least all the topics under The Basics starting with Routing. Don’t worry about mastering/understanding everything you’re reading as you go along. The idea is to preload your brain with the tools Laravel provides so that when you do start coding, you can recall “I remember reading about a feature that could help with this...” and look back on the documentation.
Path 2
For a more comprehensive series on working with Laravel, check out Laravel from Scratch by Laracasts.
Path 3
Oftentimes the best way to learn is by doing. So roll up your sleeves and build a basic web application for practice, referencing the documentation and learning about Laravel as you go along. Here are a few ideas for good practice applications:
To-Do List Application Create a web application that allows users to add, edit, and delete tasks on a to-do list. You can also implement features like marking tasks as complete and filtering tasks based on their status.
Blog or Note-Taking App Develop a simple blogging platform or note-taking application. Users should be able to create, edit, and delete blog posts or notes. You can also include features like categorizing posts and adding tags.
Contact Book Build a web application that allows users to manage their contacts. Users should be able to add new contacts, edit existing ones, and delete contacts. You can also include features like searching for contacts and organizing them into groups.