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One of the best ways to learn PHP Frameworks like Laravel is by creating applications. This helps to get some understanding of the fundamental ideas in the identified framework. In this tutorial learn how to create a fully functional calculator application in Laravel framework. By the end of this article, you’ll not only have a working calculator application but also get a solid grasp of Laravel’s fundamentals.
In this guide, we also explore the process of setting up a new Laravel project. Create models and controllers, design user interfaces using Blade templating and implement calculator logic. This guide will offer you a clear understanding of Laravel application development.
Let’s get started on our journey to build a calculator Laravel application from scratch! If you are looking to bring your Laravel application idea to life or need expert guidance for your project? We’re here to help! Let Us Build Your Next Laravel Application
Step 1: Set Up the Laravel Project.
For setting up the Laravel project in your system you need to whether the composer and Laravel installer are already installed. If not install both and if it is complete we can create a new Laravel project by running the following command. Here I am using the calculator app for this app you can replace.
‘laravel new calculator-app’
After creating the project please navigate to calculator-app folder by using the following command.
‘cd calculator-app’
In the browser to view this application use the following command and then will provide a local development URL (http://127.0.0.1:8000), In this, we can access our Laravel project.
‘php artisan serve’
Step 2: Design the User Interface
Let’s focus on creating a user-friendly interface for our calculator application. In this step, we’ll design the views using Laravel’s Blade templating engine.
1. Create Blade File: Laravel provides a clean and efficient way to organize views. Inside the resources/views directory, create a new folder for our project named calculator.
2. Design Form: Inside the calculator folder create a new file named calculator.blade.php for a form in which we can input data for calculation.
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | <form action="{{ route("calculate') }}" method="POST"> @csrf <input type:"text" name="operand1" placeholder="Enter the first number" required> <select name="operator" required> <option "add">+</option> <option "subtract">-</option> <option "multiply">*</option> <option "divide">/</option> </select> <input type:"text" name="operand2" placeholder="Enter the second number" required> <button type="submit">Calculate</button> </form> |
This will be the output for the form
3. Display Result: For displaying the result of the calculation we can create another view file with the name result.blade.php.
| 1 2 3 4 5 | <h1>Calculator Result</h1> <p>Result: {{ $result }}</p> <a href="{{ route('calculator') }}">Back to Calculator</a> |
And output for the result page will be
4. Controller Methods: In the controller (which we’ll create in the next step), we can define the ways to handle rendering the views and the calculation processes.
Step 3: Build the Controller
Controllers in Laravel act as intermediaries between routes(which we’ll create in the next step) and views, facilitating the flow of data and user interactions. With our user interface designed, now we can create the controller that will handle the logic for our calculator application.
To create a controller in Laravel use the following command
‘php artisan make:controller CalculatorController’
This will create a new file named calculatorcontroller.php in the app/Http/Controllers directory. After creating this define mainly two functions one is for showing the calculator and one is for performing the calculator operations and displaying the result.
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 | namespace AppHttpControllers; use AppHttpControllersController; use IlluminateHttpRequest; use AppModelsCalculator; // Assuming this is the namespace for Calculator model class CalculatorController extends Controller { public function showForm() { return view('calculator.calculator'); } public function calculate(Request $request) { // Validate form input $validatedData = $request->validate([ 'operand1' => 'required|numeric', 'operand2' => 'required|numeric', 'operator' => 'required|in:add,subtract,multiply,divide', // Add other operators here ]); // Create a new Calculator instance $calculator = new Calculator($validatedData); // Perform calculation based on the selected operator $result = $calculator->{$validatedData['operator']}(); // Return the result view with the calculated result return view('calculator.result', ['result' => $result]); } } |
We’re creating an instance of the calculator model in this which will be created in step 5.
Step 4: Set Up Routes
In the routes/web.php file, we can define routes to render the calculator form and display the result. In this, we need to make sure we have defined the routes to map to the appropriate controller functions.
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | <?php use IlluminateSupportFacadesRoute; use AppHttpControllersCalculatorController; Route::get('/', [CalculatorController::class, 'showForm'])->name('calculator'); Route::post('/calculate', [CalculatorController::class, 'calculate'])->name('calculate'); |
Step 5: Implement the Calculator Logic
In the controller, we’re creating an instance of the calculator model and using dynamic method calls to perform calculations based on the selected operator.
‘php artisan make:model Calculator’
We can create a model in Laravel using the following command.
And in the model, we can define the operations to perform.
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 | <?php namespace AppModels; use IlluminateDatabaseEloquentFactoriesHasFactory; use IlluminateDatabaseEloquentModel; class Calculator extends Model { use HasFactory; protected $fillable = ['operand1', 'operand2', 'operator', 'result']; public function add() { return $this->operand1 + $this->operand2; } public function subtract() { return $this->operand1 - $this->operand2; } public function multiply() { return $this->operand1 * $this->operand2; } public function divide() { return $this->operand1 / $this->operand2; } } |
Step 6: Display Results
With the calculations now being performed, it’s time to display the results to the user. In this step, we’ll cover how to pass data from the controller to the view and render it for the user.
The method calculated within the CalculatorController.php file returns a variable $result to the view file named result.blade.php in the calculator folder. Finally, it displays the output for the operation entered by the user.
In this Back to calculator button helps the user to return to the calculator operation page.
Step 7: Style Application
A well-designed user interface improves the user experience and makes your application visually appealing. We can style calculator applications using custom CSS or using a CSS framework like Bootstrap.
Conclusion
Through this step-by-step guide, you’ve learned valuable skills that extend beyond just creating a calculator – you’ve gained insight into key Laravel concepts, user interface design, controller logic etc. This is a simple and basic guide for creating a Laravel project rather than performing calculator operations without the database connection. There are some more interesting areas like testing and validations which are not discussed in this. Thank you for joining us and for more services our Laravel developers can provide more information on this adventure to build a calculator Laravel application.
FAQ
How is the calculator application structured in terms of components?
The application consists of views (using Blade templating), a controller (handling logic), routes (defining endpoints), and a model (for performing calculations). This structure follows the MVC (Model-View-Controller) pattern commonly used in web development.
Can I customize the user interface of the calculator application?
Absolutely. The guide includes steps on designing the user interface using Laravel's Blade templating engine. You can modify the interface's appearance and layout according to your preferences.
What kind of calculations can the calculator perform?
The calculator application is designed to perform basic arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. These operations are implemented using Laravel's model and controller components.
Can I use this guide as a starting point for more complex applications?
Certainly. The skills you gain from building the calculator application can be extended to more sophisticated projects. Understanding how to structure routes, controllers, models, and views will be beneficial for more complex applications.
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