Comprehensive Tutorial: Using Symfony
Introduction to Symfony
Symfony is a set of reusable PHP components and a PHP framework for web projects. It speeds up the creation and maintenance of PHP web applications while replacing repetitive coding tasks.
Getting Started
To start using Symfony, you need to have PHP and Composer installed on your machine.
Example: Checking PHP and Composer Installation
Open your terminal and run the following commands:
php -v
composer -v
Composer version 1.10.1 2020-03-13 20:34:27
Installing Symfony
Use Composer to create a new Symfony project:
Example: Creating a Symfony Project
Run the following command in your terminal:
composer create-project symfony/skeleton my_project_name
Installing symfony/skeleton (v5.1.0)
...
Directory Structure
When the installation is complete, your project's directory structure will look like this:
Example: Symfony Project Structure
├── bin/
├── config/
├── public/
├── src/
├── templates/
├── translations/
├── var/
└── vendor/
Running the Symfony Server
Symfony comes with a local web server that you can use for development. To start the server, run the following command:
Example: Starting Symfony Server
Run the following command in your project directory:
symfony serve
The Web server is using PHP CGI 7.4.3
http://127.0.0.1:8000
Creating Your First Controller
Controllers are responsible for handling requests and returning responses. To create a controller, use the Symfony console:
Example: Creating a Controller
Run the following command:
php bin/console make:controller DefaultController
created: templates/default/index.html.twig
Routing
Routing defines how your application responds to different URLs. Symfony uses annotations to define routes in the controller.
Example: Defining a Route
Edit src/Controller/DefaultController.php:
<?php
namespace App\Controller;
use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\AbstractController;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;
use Symfony\Component\Routing\Annotation\Route;
class DefaultController extends AbstractController
{
/**
* @Route("/", name="home")
*/
public function index(): Response
{
return $this->render('default/index.html.twig', [
'controller_name' => 'DefaultController',
]);
}
}
Creating Views
Views are used to render the HTML content. Symfony uses Twig as its templating engine.
Example: Creating a View
Edit templates/default/index.html.twig:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Welcome!</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Hello {{ controller_name }}!</h1>
</body>
</html>
Database Configuration
Symfony supports various database engines. Configure your database settings in the .env file:
Example: Configuring the Database
Edit the .env file:
DATABASE_URL="mysql://db_user:db_password@127.0.0.1:3306/db_name"
Creating an Entity
Entities are PHP classes that map to database tables. To create an entity, use the Symfony console:
Example: Creating an Entity
Run the following command:
php bin/console make:entity
New property name (press <return> to stop adding fields): name
Field type (enter ? to see all types) [string]: string
Field length [255]:
...
Running Migrations
After creating an entity, you need to run migrations to create the corresponding database table:
Example: Running Migrations
Run the following commands:
php bin/console make:migration
php bin/console doctrine:migrations:migrate
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have successfully created a basic Symfony application. This tutorial covered the essentials to get you started with Symfony. For more advanced features, refer to the official Symfony documentation.