Laravel and Postman Rest API Development: Beginner to Pro

Learn how an API enables communication between applications, including its private, public, and partner types, and compare SOAP and REST web services, with emphasis on http-based REST, JSON/XML formats.

Install and configure the Xampp server, including Apache, MariaDB, and MySQL, on a preferred drive, start the control panel, and access localhost and phpmyadmin for database management.

Install composer, the PHP dependency manager for Laravel, configure the PHP path with Xampp or Vamp server, and verify installation in a new command window.

Install and configure a Laravel project in your local environment using composer, follow official docs, and start the server with PHP artisan serve to run a restful application.

Install Postman to develop, modify, and test APIs; download the Windows 64-bit setup from postman.com, run the installer, sign in with Google, and enable cloud sync for resources.

Learn the Laravel basics by exploring the framework lifecycle, defining routes, controllers, models, and migrations, and running the local server with Xampp and PHP Artisan to build RESTful APIs.

Configure a Laravel database connection, then create author and book models with migrations. Define fillable fields and run migrations to generate authors and books tables.

Define an api resource route for authors, implement the author controller index to fetch all records, and return them as JSON via get request.

Fetch a single author record using a get request in Laravel, leveraging a resource route and show function, and test with Postman in a rest api workflow.

Implement a post request to store a new author record using laravel's store method, tested with postman. Build data with name, contact number, country, and created_at, and verify the response.

Learn how to update existing data with a put request in an API using Postman, including sending a JSON body with author name and country to update records.

Learn how to delete a record with a delete request in a Laravel API, using the author controller and an id filter, and confirm deletion by refreshing the author table.

Learn to partially update records using the patch method in a Postman REST API, handling integrity constraints and updating specific fields like author and contact number.

Add a GET route /author/search in Laravel to handle a term parameter with a like query, using author controller, and test the API with Postman.

Define validation rules for API requests, create a validator, apply rules to request data, and return validation errors to ensure accurate author name and country fields before processing.

Implement authentication in a Laravel API using Sanctum, install and migrate, create user routes and controllers, generate and use access tokens, and protect routes with Bearer authentication for Postman testing.

Create a book resource in Laravel by duplicating author setup, implementing routes, controllers, and validation, then test with Postman to add and fetch books with author details and token authentication.

Deploy a Laravel API to cPanel by creating a subdomain, configuring a MySQL database with phpMyAdmin, uploading a zip, updating the .env, and testing with Postman.