Welcome to the course! In this first episode, we're introducing what we'll be working on: creating a URL shortener using Laravel Volt and Folio. If these tools are new to you, don't worry—I'll be covering everything you need to start from scratch. If you've used them before, you might pick up some useful tricks to streamline your workflow.
We'll start off by looking at a live demo of the finished URL shortener, showing features like inputting a URL, generating the shortened link, copying it to your clipboard, and how you can reset and shorten multiple URLs in one session. It's a simple, practical app that showcases how easy it can be to rapidly build interactive interfaces.
After the demo, I walk you through what Laravel Folio is—a way to quickly map your Blade templates to routes without having to set them up manually. When combined with Volt, which lets you write functional Livewire components directly inside your Blade files, this setup is super efficient. Essentially, you just create a file, write your PHP and Blade code together, and your route is ready to go without extra boilerplate.
At the end, there's a quick heads-up that if you're not comfortable with Livewire yet, you might have to do a bit of learning along the way. But you can still follow along and get a feel for how Volt and Folio work together.
Ready to dive in? Let's get set up in the next episode!