Laravel Directory Structure – A Beginner’s Walkthrough 🚀

Laravel’s elegant syntax and organized directory structure make it a favorite among PHP developers. If you're just getting started, understanding the Laravel file system is crucial. In this post, I’ll break it down simply.

---

🗂️ 1. Root Overview

A freshly installed Laravel project looks something like this:

app/
bootstrap/
config/
database/
public/
resources/
routes/
storage/
tests/
vendor/
.env
artisan
composer.json

Let’s explore what these folders actually mean.

---

📁 2. Key Folders Explained

• app/ This is where the core logic of your application lives. You’ll find Controllers, Models, Events, Listeners, Policies, and more here. Most of your backend logic happens inside this folder.

• routes/ This folder contains all your route definitions.

  • web.php handles web routes

  • api.php handles API routes

  • console.php is for Artisan commands

  • channels.php defines broadcast channels

• resources/ This is where your frontend lives:

  • Blade templates (views/)

  • CSS, JS files (assets/)

  • Language translation files (lang/)

• public/ This is the entry point to your application. The index.php file here handles all incoming requests. This folder also stores images, compiled CSS/JS, and other public-facing assets.

• config/ This contains configuration files for your app – like app.php, auth.php, mail.php, and more. You can control everything from session timeout to database connections here.

• database/ This holds your:

  • Migrations (for table creation)

  • Factories (for dummy data)

  • Seeders (to populate tables)

• storage/ This is used to store logs, file uploads, cache, and compiled Blade views. Pro tip: Run php artisan storage:link to create a symbolic link to serve storage files from public/.

• vendor/ This is where Composer installs all Laravel dependencies and third-party packages. You typically don’t touch this folder.

• .env This file stores environment-specific variables like your DB credentials, mail settings, app key, etc. Never commit this file to version control!

---

✅ 3. Why Is This Structure Important?

Laravel encourages separation of concerns, meaning each part of your application has a clear purpose and place. This makes your project:

• Easier to maintain

• More scalable

• Cleaner for teams to collaborate on

---

🧠 4. Quick Tip for Beginners

If you're ever lost, run:

php artisan list

This shows all the Artisan commands you can use to generate files and interact with Laravel’s features.

---

🛠️ 5. Final Thoughts

Once you understand Laravel's folder structure, everything starts to click. It’s one of the most well-organized frameworks out there. Take time to explore each directory and try creating routes, controllers, and views manually to get hands-on practice.

---

👉 https://github.com/rohitdhiman91/laravel-directory-structure-explained

---

Let me know what topic you’d like explained next — Eloquent, Blade, or Laravel Livewire? Happy coding! 🚀