Sumit Dey
Sarkar
22 Mar 2023
LaravelLaravel has a well-defined file structure that follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern. Here's a brief overview of the main directories and files in a typical Laravel application:
- app: This directory contains the application's PHP files, including controllers, models, middleware, providers, and other classes.
- bootstrap: This directory contains the files responsible for bootstrapping the Laravel application. It includes the app.php file, which loads the application's configuration and services.
- config: This directory contains the application's configuration files, such as app.php for the application configuration, database.php for the database configuration, and mail.php for the email configuration.
- database: This directory contains the database migrations, seeds, and factories. The migrations directory holds the migration files, which define the database schema changes. The seeds directory holds the seed files, which are used to populate the database with dummy data for testing purposes.
- public: This directory contains the index.php file, which serves as the entry point to the application. It also contains the assets directory, which stores the public assets, such as CSS, JavaScript, and images.
- resources: This directory contains the application's view files, language files, and assets that need to be compiled, such as SASS or LESS files. The views directory holds the blade templates used to generate the HTML responses.
- routes: This directory contains the application's route files, which define the application's endpoints and their corresponding controller methods.
- storage: This directory contains the application's storage files, such as logs, cache, and uploaded files.
- tests: This directory contains the application's test files. The Feature directory holds the feature tests, which test the application's endpoints. The Unit directory holds the unit tests, which test individual classes or methods.
- .env: This file contains the application's environment variables, such as the database credentials, mail settings, and application key.
- composer.json: This file defines the application's dependencies and scripts.
That's a brief overview of the Laravel file structure. The structure is designed to provide a modular and maintainable codebase, making it easier to manage and scale a Laravel application.
Let's see more directories and files -
- vendor: This directory contains the dependencies installed via Composer. It should not be manually edited.
- node_modules: This directory contains the JavaScript dependencies installed via NPM or Yarn. It should not be manually edited.
- package.json: This file defines the application's NPM dependencies and scripts.
- webpack.mix.js: This file defines the application's asset compilation and optimization using Laravel Mix.
- app/Http: This directory contains the application's HTTP-related files, such as controllers, middleware, and requests.
- app/Providers: This directory contains the application's service providers, which are responsible for registering the application's services and bindings.
- app/Exceptions: This directory contains the application's exception handler and related files.
- app/Console: This directory contains the application's console commands and related files.
- bootstrap/cache: This directory contains the application's cached configuration files, such as the config.php file.
- public/.htaccess: This file configures the Apache web server to serve the application's files.
- artisan: This file is the Laravel command-line interface, which provides access to a range of commands to manage the application.
- composer.lock: This file locks the dependencies' versions to ensure consistent builds across different environments.
- phpunit.xml: This file configures the PHPUnit test runner for the application's test suite.
- bootstrap/app.php: This file is responsible for setting up the application's container and loading the service providers.
- config/app.php: This file contains the application's main configuration options, such as the timezone, locale, and service providers.
- resources/lang: This directory contains the application's language files, which can be used to support multiple languages.
- storage/app: This directory is used to store application-specific files, such as user uploads.
- storage/logs: This directory contains the application's log files, which can be used to troubleshoot issues.
- database/factories: This directory contains the factory classes that can be used to generate test data.
- database/seeders: This directory contains the seeder classes that can be used to populate the database with test data.
- routes/api.php: This file contains the application's API routes.
- routes/web.php: This file contains the application's web routes.
- tests/Browser: This directory contains the browser tests, which can be used to test the application's UI.
- tests/CreatesApplication.php: This file contains the CreatesApplication trait, which sets up the Laravel application for testing.
- tests/TestCase.php: This file contains the TestCase class, which provides a base class for testing Laravel applications.
- public/index.php: This file is the entry point for all requests to the application, and it bootstraps the Laravel framework.
- resources/views: This directory contains the application's blade templates, which are used to generate HTML output.
- storage/framework/cache: This directory contains the application's cached views and other cached data.
- database/migrations: This directory contains the application's database migration files, which can be used to manage database schema changes.
- app/Models: This directory contains the application's model classes, which are used to interact with the database.
- app/Http/Controllers/Api: This directory contains the application's API controllers, which are responsible for handling incoming API requests.
- app/Http/Controllers/Web: This directory contains the application's web controllers, which are responsible for handling incoming web requests.
- app/Http/Requests: This directory contains the application's form request classes, which are used to validate incoming request data.
- app/Http/Middleware: This directory contains the application's middleware classes, which can be used to modify incoming requests or outgoing responses.
- app/Http/Resources: This directory contains the application's resource classes, which can be used to transform data for API responses.
- app/Http/Kernel.php: This file contains the application's middleware stack, which defines how incoming requests are processed.
- app/Providers/RouteServiceProvider.php: This file contains the application's route service provider, which is responsible for registering the application's routes.
- app/Http/routes.php: This file contains the application's route definitions.
- config/database.php: This file contains the application's database configuration options.
- storage/app/public: This directory is used to store public files that can be accessed directly via a URL.
- storage/framework/sessions: This directory contains the application's session files, which are used to persist user sessions.
- storage/framework/testing: This directory contains the application's temporary testing files, such as database SQLite files.
- database/factories/ModelFactory.php: This file contains the default factory definitions for the application's models.
- database/seeders/DatabaseSeeder.php: This file contains the default seeder class for the application's database.
- app/Listeners: This directory contains the event listener classes for the application's events.
- app/Events: This directory contains the event classes for the application's event-driven architecture.
- app/Jobs: This directory contains the job classes for the application's queued jobs.
- config/auth.php: This file contains the application's authentication configuration options, such as the default guard and provider.
- config/mail.php: This file contains the application's mail configuration options, such as the driver and mail settings.
- config/cache.php: This file contains the application's caching configuration options, such as the default cache driver and cache stores.
- config/session.php: This file contains the application's session configuration options, such as the driver and session lifetime.
- config/queue.php: This file contains the application's queue configuration options, such as the default queue connection and queue drivers.
- tests: This directory contains the application's automated tests, written using PHPUnit.
- public/js and public/css: These directories contain the application's JavaScript and CSS assets, respectively.
- resources/lang: This directory contains the application's language files, which are used for localization and translation.
- vendor: This directory contains all of the third-party dependencies used by the application, installed via Composer.
- .env: This file contains the application's environment-specific configuration, such as database credentials and application settings.
- .env.example: This file contains an example .env file that developers can use as a template when setting up their environment.
- artisan: This command-line interface tool is included with Laravel and provides a wide range of useful commands for managing the application.
- bootstrap/cache: This directory contains cached configuration files that are loaded when the application boots.
- bootstrap/app.php: This file is the starting point for the Laravel framework and initializes various components of the application.
- composer.json: This file contains the application's Composer dependencies and can be used to add new dependencies or update existing ones.
- composer.lock: This file contains the exact versions of each package installed by Composer and ensures that all developers are working with the same package versions.
- package.json and yarn.lock: These files contain the application's JavaScript dependencies and can be used to add or update front-end packages.
These are just a few more directories and files that you might encounter in a Laravel application. As you continue to work with the framework, you may discover additional directories and files that are specific to your project or use case.
