How to Get Started with Lumen, the Lightweight PHP Micro-Framework by Laravel

Lumen, a lightweight and fast micro-framework developed by Laravel, is designed for building lean microservices. If you're ready to dive in, it's easier than you think. Follow these steps to start building your first Lumen application.

Step 1: Install Composer

First, you'll need to ensure that Composer, the backstage crew for PHP, is set up on your system. Composer handles all the behind-the-scenes stuff, making it easier to manage dependencies and packages for your Lumen application.

To get started, you can install Composer by following the instructions on the official website or by running the following command:

curl -sS  | php

Once you have Composer installed, you can install it globally by running:

php  global require "laravel/lumen-installer"

Step 2: Create a New Lumen Project

Lumen simplifies the process of creating new projects with its clean and intuitive command-line tool. Open your terminal and run the following command:

lumen new myproject

This command will create a new myproject directory containing all the necessary files and directories for your Lumen application.

Step 3: Launch the Development Server

To start your development server, navigate to your project directory and run the following command:

php -S localhost:8000 -t public

Once the server is running, you can access your application at http://localhost:8000. You should see a welcome page with the name and environment of your application displayed.

Step 4: Explore Routing, Controllers, and Middleware

Now that you have a basic application up and running, you can start building out your APIs. Lumen is lightweight, so you can focus on the essential elements of routing, controllers, and middleware.

Routing: Define routes in the file to map URLs to specific handlers. For example:

use LumenRoutingRouter;
public function boot(Router $router)
{
    $router->get('/', function () use ($router) {
        return 'Hello, Lumen!';
    });
}

Controllers: Create controllers to handle requests and responses. For example, create a new controller in the app/Http/Controllers directory:

namespace AppHttpControllers;
use LumenRoutingController;
class HomeController extends Controller
{
    public function welcome()
    {
        return 'Welcome to Lumen!';
    }
}

Middlewares: Middleware can be used to filter requests before they reach your routes. For example, create a custom middleware in the app/Http/Middleware directory:

namespace AppHttpMiddleware;
use Closure;
class CustomMiddleware
{
    public function handle($request, Closure $next)
    {
        // Do something here
        return $next($request);
    }
}

Step 5: Diving into Eloquent ORM

If your application involves database interactions, you'll want to familiarize yourself with Lumen's integrated ORM, Eloquent. Eloquent provides an active record implementation for Laravel, allowing you to interact with your database using object-oriented approaches.

Here's a simple example of using Eloquent to create a model and perform a database query:

php artisan make:model Post -m
// In your migration file (app/database/migrations/2023_12_31_120000_create_posts_):
public function up()
{
    Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->id();
        $table->string('title');
        $table->text('body');
        $table->timestamps();
    });
}
// In your controller or service:
$posts  Post::all();
foreach ($posts as $post) {
    echo $post->title . PHP_EOL;
}

Eloquent ORM is a powerful tool, and it may take some time to get comfortable with it, but the effort is worth it. As you work with Eloquent, you'll find that it simplifies many common database operations, making your development process more efficient.

Conclusion

Coding is a journey, not a destination. Lumen is a powerful tool for building lightweight and efficient microservices. Whether you're a seasoned developer or a newcomer to the world of Lumen, the steps outlined above will help you get started and make the most of this fantastic framework.