Laravel Middleware

Laravel is a popular PHP framework that is widely used for web application development. With the release of Laravel 9, there have been several updates and improvements to the framework, including changes to the middleware system. In this post, we will take a look at some of the new features and changes in Laravel 9 middleware and also provide an example of how to use them.

One of the main changes in Laravel 9 is the introduction of “global middleware groups.” These groups allow developers to easily apply a set of middleware to all routes in the application, without the need to manually apply them to each individual route. This can significantly reduce the amount of code that needs to be written and make it easier to manage middleware across an application.

Here is an example of how to create and apply a global middleware group:

// app/Http/Kernel.php
protected $middlewareGroups = [
    'web' => [
        // ...
    ],
    'api' => [
        // ...
    ],
    'global' => [
        \App\Http\Middleware\GlobalMiddleware::class,
    ],
];

Another change in Laravel 9 is the ability to define middleware groups in a separate file. This allows developers to keep their middleware organized and easily maintainable.

// app/Http/Middleware/GlobalMiddleware.php
class GlobalMiddleware
{
    public function handle($request, Closure $next)
    {
        // Perform actions before or after the request is handled
        return $next($request);
    }
}

In addition, Laravel 9 also allows developers to create middleware that can handle multiple HTTP verbs. This means that a single middleware can be used to handle requests for multiple routes, regardless of the verb (e.g. GET, POST, etc.) used in the request.

class GlobalMiddleware
{
    public function handle($request, Closure $next)
    {
        if ($request->is('admin/*')) {
            // Perform actions only for requests to admin routes
        }
        return $next($request);
    }
}

Overall, the changes to middleware in Laravel 9 make it easier for developers to manage and apply middleware across their applications. These improvements can help to increase the maintainability and scalability of an application, allowing developers to focus on building new features and functionality.