Data Layer

Goal

This snapshot advances Quaycart Market by teaching you to model categories and products with MySQL, migrations, and seeds.

Every numbered folder is a complete app. Run this stage independently, then compare it with the previous folder.

Prerequisites

Use PHP 8.2+, Composer, Node.js 20+, npm, and Docker for MySQL stages.

Port 8004 must be free. Copy .env.example before database stages.

• PHP and Composer
• Node.js and npm
• Docker from part 4 onward

Concepts

Each snapshot uses an isolated quaycart_NN database so stages stay independent.

Livewire keeps interactive UI on the server with components; Tailwind styles the storefront; Eloquent owns persistence and authorization checks.

Walkthrough

Migrate Category and Product tables, relate them, and seed Ada, Grace, and a starter catalog.

Read the example, then open the matching snapshot. The repository includes validation, CSRF, and the surrounding structure.

Schema::create('products', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->foreignId('user_id')->constrained()->cascadeOnDelete();
    $table->foreignId('category_id')->constrained();
    $table->string('name');
    $table->string('slug')->unique();
    $table->unsignedInteger('price_cents');
    $table->unsignedInteger('stock')->default(0);
    $table->timestamps();
});

Run and verify

Enter 04-Data-Layer, install PHP and Node dependencies, copy .env.example, migrate, seed, build assets, and serve on port 8004.

Open http://127.0.0.1:8004. From data lessons onward, Ada and Grace use password123.

docker compose up -d
git clone https://github.com/michaeldunga1/fcc-laravel-ecommerce.git
cd fcc-laravel-ecommerce/04-Data-Layer
composer install
npm install
cp .env.example .env
php artisan key:generate
php artisan migrate --seed
php artisan storage:link
npm run build
php artisan serve --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8004

Troubleshooting

Connection refused usually means Docker is down or DB_DATABASE does not match this folder's index.

For database failures, confirm Docker and the quaycart_NN name. Never commit .env, vendor, or node_modules.

• Read the first exception first
• Rebuild assets after Tailwind class changes
• Never commit secrets

Try this

Add a nullable sku column through a new migration.

Test a happy path and one invalid or unauthorized request.

• Make one small change
• Test it in the browser
• Compare with the next snapshot only after it works