Laravel Book Catalogue

This is a basic book catalogue project built with Laravel. It fetches book data from the Gutendex API and displays it on the /books URL. The project demonstrates the use of Laravel's Blade templating, controller logic, and separation of API client logic into a dedicated file.

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Features

• Fetches book data from the Gutendex API.
• Displays books with details like title, author, language, subjects, and summaries.
• Allows filtering by language, sorting (ascending, descending, popular), and searching by title.
• Pagination for navigating through the book list.
• Responsive UI built with Bootstrap 5.
• Demonstrates Laravel best practices:
  • Blade templating.
  • Separation of concerns by moving API logic to a dedicated client file.
  • Clean controller logic.

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Installation

Follow these steps to set up the project locally:

Prerequisites

• PHP >= 8.1
• Composer
• Laravel >= 10.x
• A web server (e.g., Apache, Nginx, or Laravel's built-in server)
• Node.js and npm (optional, for frontend asset compilation)

Steps

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/gayali/laravel-book-catalogue.git
   cd laravel-book-catalogue

2. Install Dependencies: Run the following command to install PHP dependencies:

   composer install

3. Set Up Environment: Copy the .env.example file to .env:

   cp .env.example .env

   Update the .env file with your application settings (e.g., database connection, app URL).

4. Generate Application Key:

   php artisan key:generate

5. Run the Application: Start the Laravel development server:

   php artisan serve

   The application will be available at http://127.0.0.1:8000

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Usage

Accessing the Application

• Navigate to /books to view the book catalogue.
• Example URL: http://127.0.0.1:8000/books.

Features

1. Search:

   • Use the search bar to find books by title.

2. Filter by Language:

   • Click the "Filters" button to open the left panel.
   • Select one or more languages (e.g., English, French) and click "Apply Filter".

3. Sort:

   • Use the "Sort By" dropdown to sort books by:
     • Ascending
     • Descending
     • Popular

4. Pagination:

   • Use the "Previous Page" and "Next Page" buttons to navigate through the book list.

5. View Details:

   • Click the "View Details" button on any book card to open a modal with detailed information about the book.

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Project Structure

Routes

The routes are defined in routes/web.php:

Route::get('/', function () {
    return redirect()->route('books.index');
});

Route::get('/books', [BookController::class, 'index'])->name('books.index');

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Controllers

The main logic is handled in BookController.php:

// filepath: app/Http/Controllers/BookController.php
public function index(Request $request)
{
    $validated = $request->validate([
        'search' => 'nullable|string|max:255',
        'page' => 'nullable|string|min:1',
        'languages' => 'nullable|array',
        'languages.*' => 'string|size:2|regex:/^[a-z]{2}$/',
        'sort' => 'nullable|string|in:ascending,descending,popular',
    ]);

    try {
        if (isset($validated['languages']) && is_array($validated['languages'])) {
            $validated['languages'] = implode(',', $validated['languages']);
        }

        $books = (new BookClient)->fetchBooks($validated);

        if (!$books) {
            Log::error('Error fetching books: Books not found');
            return response(['error' => 'Books not found'], 404);
        }

        return view('books.index', compact('books'));
    } catch (Exception $e) {
        Log::error($e);
        return response(['error' => 'Something went wrong, please try again later'], 500);
    }
}

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API Client

The API logic is separated into BookClient.php:

// filepath: app/Clients/BookClient.php
namespace App\Clients;

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;

class BookClient
{
    const SITE_URL = 'https://gutendex.com';

    public function fetchBooks($query = [])
    {
        $query = array_filter($query, function ($value) {
            return !is_null($value) && $value !== '';
        });

        $response = Http::get(self::SITE_URL . '/books', $query);

        if ($response->successful()) {
            return $response->json();
        }

        return null;
    }
}

• Purpose: Handles API requests to the Gutendex API.
• Method: fetchBooks($query) fetches books based on the query parameters.

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Blade Templates

The frontend is built using Blade templates. Key files:

1. Layout:

   • resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php: Contains the base HTML structure and includes Bootstrap.

2. Books Index:

   • resources/views/books/index.blade.php: Displays the book catalogue with filters, sorting, and pagination.

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Frontend

The UI is built with Bootstrap 5 (via CDN). Key features:

1. Navbar:

   • Displays the application title.

2. Filters:

   • A left panel (offcanvas) for filtering by language.

3. Sorting:

   • A dropdown for sorting books.

4. Pagination:

   • Buttons for navigating between pages.

5. Responsive Design:

   • The layout is fully responsive and works on all screen sizes.

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Example API Query

The application sends requests to the Gutendex API with query parameters like:

GET https://gutendex.com/books?search=frankenstein&languages=en,fr&sort=popular&page=2

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Customization

1. Add More Filters:

   • Update the BookController and index.blade.php to include additional filters (e.g., subjects, authors).

2. Styling:

   • Modify app.blade.php to include custom CSS or use a different frontend framework.

3. Extend API Logic:

   • Add more methods to BookClient.php for fetching specific book details or other endpoints.

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Troubleshooting

1. No Books Found:

   • Ensure the Gutendex API is reachable.
   • Check the query parameters being sent.

2. Styling Issues:

   • Ensure the Bootstrap CDN is loaded correctly.

3. Validation Errors:

   • Check the validation rules in BookController.php.

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License

This project is open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license.