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You have completed Build a REST API with Laravel!
You have completed Build a REST API with Laravel!
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Now that we’ve created a new Laravel application, added the database credentials to the .env file, and tested our database connection with php artisan migrate, we’re ready to start building our database migrations.
Migrations
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Welcome back.
0:00
Now that we've created a new Laravel
application, added the database
0:02
credentials to the ENV file, and
tested our database connection with
0:06
php artisan migrate, we're ready to
start building our database migrations.
0:11
So what are migrations exactly?
0:17
Migrations are like version control for
your database, allowing you and
0:21
your team to collaborate on the same
database schema without conflicts.
0:26
Migrations work in tandem with
a schema builder which defines you
0:31
application's database schema.
0:35
It's also important to mention
that the Laravel schema facade
0:39
provides a database-agnostic
support when working with tables,
0:43
which we'll import and
use later in the course.
0:47
Check out the Teacher's Notes
to learn more.
0:51
Are you ready?
0:54
Let's get started.
0:55
Now that we've successfully tested our
database connection, let's navigate to
0:57
the database/migrations directory and
delete the default migrations inside.
1:02
Next, let's use artisan to create our
models and migrations one at a time.
1:11
It's worth noting that we could use
the -mcr flag to create a model,
1:19
controller, and resource controller
all at once, with one command.
1:24
However, to demonstrate each step,
we'll build models and
1:30
migrations using just one flag,
-m, like this.
1:38
Finally, let's navigate to
the migrations directory and
1:52
verify that our new
migrations have been created.
1:55
Now that we've created our models and
migrations, let's take a look at our
2:01
models, then delete the user model,
which we won't be using in this course.
2:05
Next, modify the database schema
to accommodate the data for
2:11
our API, like this.
2:15
First, open the authors_table migration.
2:18
And let's keep the table
bigIncrements column,
2:22
which gives us an ID for each record.
2:26
Let's also keep timestamps so we know
when an add, update, or delete occurs.
2:30
Next, let's
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add name,
2:46
title,
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company, and
2:59
emai,l like
3:09
this.
3:18
Did you notice the down function
at the bottom of the page?
3:34
Let's take a look.
3:39
The differences between the up and
down functions are simple.
3:40
In Laravel, the up function will
run when you use the php artisan
3:45
migrate command and the down function
will run when you use the php
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artisan migrate:rollback command.
3:55
It's also worth noting that
php artisan migrate:refresh
3:59
allows you to roll back and rerun all
of your migrations with one command.
4:05
If you want to drop all tables instead
of rolling them back before you rerun
4:10
migrations, use the php artisan
migrate:fresh command instead.
4:14
To learn more about these useful migration
commands, check the Teacher's Notes for
4:22
more information.
4:26
Nice job so far.
4:28
Let's repeat these same steps by opening
books_table migration, like this.
4:30
We'll also use timestamps,
like we did with the author model, so
4:37
we know when an add,
update, or delete occurs.
4:41
Next, let's add title author_id
in abstract, like this.
4:46
Note that we are using big integer
instead of using big increments,
4:53
this will allow us to have an ID and
an author ID.
4:58
Otherwise we would get an error
about duplicate primary keys.
5:02
Finally, longText is the data type we will
use for preview or excerpt for our books.
5:08
To test our migrations,
run the php artisan
5:15
migrate:fresh command to drop all
tables and rerun our migrations.
5:19
If everything went well, you would
see a successful migration message.
5:26
If not, try to debug the code yourself,
as typos are a common reason for
5:31
an error at this stage, or
5:36
feel free to reach out to other students
in the community if you still need help.
5:39
Way to go.
5:43
We learned about artisan flags and
how they can speed up development
5:45
when creating models, controllers,
and resource controllers.
5:49
We updated the database schema to
display the correct information for
5:55
authors and books.
5:59
Remember, if you have any
questions about artisan flags or
6:01
other parts of this course, feel free
to reach out to the Treehouse staff or
6:05
other students in the community
at teamtreehouse.com/community.
6:11
In the next section, we're going to
connect our database tables to our
6:16
models so we can define the author and
book relationships.
6:21
See you there.
6:25
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