Using Controllers for Logic Separation
As an application grows, stuffing all of its logic directly into route files quickly becomes unmanageable. Laravel solves this with controllers — classes dedicated to handling the logic behind a group of related routes.
Why Use Controllers?
A controller groups related request-handling logic into a single class, keeping route files focused purely on mapping URLs to actions. This separation makes code easier to navigate, test, and reuse, since the same controller method can be referenced from multiple routes if needed.
Creating a Controller
Controllers are typically generated using Artisan, which produces a properly namespaced class inside app/Http/Controllers. From there, each public method typically corresponds to one action, like showing a list of items or saving a new one.
| Controller Type | Use Case |
|---|---|
| Basic controller | Groups a handful of related, custom-named methods |
| Single action controller | Handles exactly one task via an __invoke() method |
| Resource controller | Handles a full set of CRUD operations for one resource |
| API controller | Returns JSON responses instead of Blade views |
Connecting Controllers to Routes
- Routes reference a controller and method instead of an inline closure
- Controllers can use dependency injection to access services and models
- Middleware can be applied directly within a controller's constructor
Most controllers end up managing the same predictable set of actions — list, show, create, update, delete — which is precisely what Laravel's resource controllers are built to simplify, alongside a related feature called route model binding.
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