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Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Web routes handle requests that return HTML content, such as web pages, forms, and traditional server-rendered views.

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Basic Web Route Definition

Web routes are defined in routes/web.php and return a function that accepts a RouteCollector instance:
routes/web.php
<?php

use FastRoute\RouteCollector;

return function (RouteCollector $r) {
    // Your web routes go here
};

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Creating Web Routes

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Simple Page Routes

Define routes that render HTML views:
routes/web.php
$r->get('/', function() {
    require __DIR__ . '/../views/main.php';
});

$r->get('/about', function() {
    require __DIR__ . '/../views/about.php';
});
Web routes typically use inline closures that include or require view files from the views/ directory.

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Organizing Views

Store your HTML templates in a dedicated views/ directory: 
project-root/
├── routes/
│   └── web.php
├── views/
│   ├── main.php
│   ├── about.php
│   ├── contact.php
│   └── layouts/
│       └── app.php

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Example View File

views/main.php
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Home Page</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome to My Site</h1>
    <p>This is the home page.</p>
</body>
</html>

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Content-Type Headers

FastRoute automatically sets the correct content type based on the route path:
index.php
if (strpos($uri, '/api/') === 0) {
    header('Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8');
} else {
    header('Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8');
}
All routes that don’t start with /api/ automatically get HTML content type headers.

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Dynamic Routes with Parameters

You can create dynamic web routes with parameters:
routes/web.php
$r->get('/blog/{slug}', function($vars) {
    $slug = $vars['slug'];
    require __DIR__ . '/../views/blog.php';
});

$r->get('/user/{id:\d+}', function($vars) {
    $userId = $vars['id'];
    require __DIR__ . '/../views/user.php';
});
The view file can access the parameters:
views/blog.php
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
    <h1>Blog Post: <?php echo htmlspecialchars($slug); ?></h1>
</body>
</html>

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Handling Forms

Create routes for displaying and processing forms:
routes/web.php
// Display form
$r->get('/contact', function() {
    require __DIR__ . '/../views/contact-form.php';
});

// Process form submission
$r->post('/contact', function() {
    // Process POST data
    $name = $_POST['name'] ?? '';
    $email = $_POST['email'] ?? '';
    
    // Handle form submission
    // ...
    
    // Redirect or show success
    require __DIR__ . '/../views/contact-success.php';
});

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Route Groups for Web Pages

Organize related web pages using route groups:
routes/web.php
// Public pages
$r->addGroup('', function (FastRoute\RouteCollector $r) {
    $r->get('/', function() {
        require __DIR__ . '/../views/main.php';
    });
    
    $r->get('/about', function() {
        require __DIR__ . '/../views/about.php';
    });
});

// Admin pages
$r->addGroup('/admin', function (FastRoute\RouteCollector $r) {
    $r->get('/dashboard', function() {
        require __DIR__ . '/../views/admin/dashboard.php';
    });
    
    $r->get('/users', function() {
        require __DIR__ . '/../views/admin/users.php';
    });
});

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Complete Example

Here’s the complete web routes file from the source code:
routes/web.php
<?php

use FastRoute\RouteCollector;

return function (RouteCollector $r) {

    $r->get('/', function() {
        require __DIR__ . '/../views/main.php';
    });

    $r->get('/about', function() {
        require __DIR__ . '/../views/about.php';
    });
};

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Best Practices

Use closures in web routes primarily for loading views. Move complex logic to controllers or handler classes.
Group related views in subdirectories like views/blog/, views/admin/, etc.
Create reusable layout files to avoid duplicating HTML structure across views.
Always use htmlspecialchars() when outputting user data in views to prevent XSS attacks.

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Differences from API Routes

Content Type

Web routes return HTML (text/html), while API routes return JSON (application/json)

Response Format

Web routes use require to include views, API routes use echo json_encode()

File Organization

Web routes load from views/, API routes typically call handlers or return data

Use Case

Web routes for browsers and HTML pages, API routes for AJAX, mobile apps, and integrations

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Next Steps

Route Handlers

Learn about different handler types

API Routes

Create API endpoints that return JSON

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