How to

Vendor differences

In some lessons, the source code is slightly different, depending on the database type (MySQL, Postgres and SQLite). When this happens, you'll see a database driver check in the source code that looks something like this:

if (config('database.default') === 'pgsql') {
    // ...
}

In some cases, it's not possible to create variations for all three database types, and an exception will be thrown instead.

if (config('database.default') === 'sqlite') {
    throw new \Exception('This lesson does not support SQLite.');
}

Installation

To test this demo application, please follow these instructions.

First, go to the lesson's source code directory.

Next, install the PHP vendor dependencies using Composer:

composer install

Next, copy the example configuration. You can do this from the command line, or by simply copying the .env.example file and saving it as .env.

cp .env.example .env

Next, generate an application key by running the key:generate Artisan command:

php artisan key:generate

Next, you'll need to configure a database. You can use the MySQL, Postgres, or SQLite drivers. To do this, update the DB_CONNECTION value in your .env file:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql  # MySQL
DB_CONNECTION=pgsql  # Postgres
DB_CONNECTION=sqlite # SQLite

You will likely also need to edit the other database connection values as needed for your system, such as the database host (DB_HOST), database port (DB_PORT), database name (DB_DATABASE), database user (DB_USERNAME) and database password (DB_PASSWORD).

If you're using SQLite, you can generate an SQLite database file by running the following command:

touch database/database.sqlite

Be sure to see the database section of the Laravel documentation if you're having trouble establishing a database connection.

Once your database connection has been setup, run the database migrations:

php artisan migrate

Next, run the database seeder to populate the database with some sample data:

php artisan db:seed

Now you're ready to go!

If you're using Laravel Valet, Laravel Homestead, or some other local development environment, view your website there as you normally would. Alternatively, you can also use the built-in PHP server:

php artisan serve

This command will output an address where you can then view the site.

Enjoy! 😊