In Laravel, routes tell your application which code to run when a user visits a specific URL.
Laravel provides different routing methods based on HTTP request types like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.
The most commonly used are:
1. Route::get()
- Purpose: Handles GET requests
- When to use:
- When you want to show a page or retrieve data
- Example: Loading a blog post page
Example:
Route::get('/about', function () {
return view('about');
});
2. Route::post()
- Purpose: Handles POST requests
- When to use:
- When you want to send data to the server (like form submission)
- Example: Saving a new user to the database
Example:
Route::post('/submit', function () {
return 'Form submitted!';
});
3. Route::any()
- Purpose: Handles both GET and POST (and other HTTP methods)
- When to use:
- Rarely — only when the route should work for any HTTP request type
- Example: An endpoint that handles multiple methods for testing
Example:
Route::any('/test', function () {
return 'This route accepts any HTTP method.';
});
Best Practices
- Use Route::get() for displaying content
- Use Route::post() for saving/submitting data
- Avoid Route::any() it can make debugging harder