**Course Title:** Mastering Zend Framework (Laminas): Building Robust Web Applications **Section Title:** Routing, Controllers, and Views in Laminas **Topic:** Creating controllers to handle requests and responses **Overview** In this topic, we will delve into the world of controllers in Laminas, exploring how to create and utilize them to handle requests and responses. Controllers are the heart of the Laminas application, responsible for mapping URLs to specific actions and rendering the requested data. By the end of this topic, you will have a solid understanding of controllers and be able to create your own robust and scalable controllers. **What are Controllers in Laminas?** In Laminas, controllers are classes that inherit from the `Laminas\Mvc\Controller\Controller` class. They are responsible for handling HTTP requests, performing the necessary actions, and returning HTTP responses. Controllers are typically composed of one or more actions, which are methods within the controller class that handle specific requests. **Creating a Controller** To create a controller, follow these steps: 1. Create a new directory for your controller in the `application/modules/` directory. 2. Create a new PHP file within that directory, e.g., `MyController.php`. 3. In the `MyController.php` file, create a new class that inherits from `Laminas\Mvc\Controller\Controller`. 4. Define one or more actions within the controller class. **Example: Simple Hello World Controller** Here is an example of a simple "Hello World" controller: ```php // application/modules/my/controllers/MyController.php namespace Application\modules\my; use Laminas\Mvc\Controller\Controller; use Laminas\Mvc\MvcEvent; class MyController extends Controller { public function indexAction() { return new \Laminas\View\Model\ViewModel(['message' => 'Hello World!']); } } ``` In this example, we have created a `MyController` class with an `indexAction` method. This method returns a `ViewModel` object containing the message "Hello World!". When the `indexAction` is called, the controller will render the view and return the message as the response. **Key Concepts** * **Action**: A method within a controller class that handles a specific request. * **Controller**: A class that inherits from `Laminas\Mvc\Controller\Controller` and handles HTTP requests. * **Request**: The HTTP request data, including the URL, method, and headers. * **Response**: The HTTP response data, including the HTTP status code, headers, and body. **Practical Takeaways** * Create a new controller class by extending `Laminas\Mvc\Controller\Controller`. * Define one or more actions within the controller class. * Use the `indexAction` method as a starting point for handling requests. * Use the `ViewModel` class to return data to the view. **Exercises** 1. Create a new controller class for the "Users" module. 2. Define an `indexAction` method to handle the `/users` URL. 3. Use the `ViewModel` class to return a list of users. **Leave a comment or ask for help if you have any questions or need further clarification on any of the concepts covered in this topic!**