**Course Title:** Mastering Symfony: Building Enterprise-Level PHP Applications **Section Title:** Routing, Controllers, and Templating **Topic:** Passing data between controllers and views Passing data between controllers and views is an essential concept in Symfony development. In this topic, we will explore the various ways to pass data between controllers and views, and how to use this data to render dynamic templates. **Understanding the Request-Response Cycle** Before we dive into passing data between controllers and views, it's essential to understand the request-response cycle in Symfony. When a user makes a request to a Symfony application, the request is handled by the controller, which then renders a response, typically in the form of an HTML template. **Passing Data from Controllers to Views** In Symfony, there are several ways to pass data from controllers to views. Here are a few: 1. **Using the `render()` method**: The `render()` method is used to render a template and pass data to it. This method takes two arguments: the name of the template and an array of data to pass to the template. ```php // Controller public function indexAction() { $data = ['name' => 'John Doe', 'age' => 30]; return $this->render('index.html.twig', $data); } // Template (index.html.twig) {{ name }} is {{ age }} years old. ``` 2. **Using the `return` statement**: You can also pass data to a template by returning an array from the controller method. ```php // Controller public function indexAction() { $data = ['name' => 'John Doe', 'age' => 30]; return ['data' => $data]; } // Template (index.html.twig) {{ data.name }} is {{ data.age }} years old. ``` 3. **Using the `redirectToRoute()` method**: You can also pass data to a template by using the `redirectToRoute()` method. ```php // Controller public function indexAction() { $data = ['name' => 'John Doe', 'age' => 30]; return $this->redirectToRoute('index', ['data' => $data]); } // Template (index.html.twig) {{ data.name }} is {{ data.age }} years old. ``` **Using Twig Variables** Twig is a templating engine that allows you to render dynamic templates in Symfony. In Twig, you can use variables to store and display data. Here's an example: ```php // Controller public function indexAction() { $data = ['name' => 'John Doe', 'age' => 30]; return $this->render('index.html.twig', $data); } // Template (index.html.twig) {% set name = data.name %} {% set age = data.age %} {{ name }} is {{ age }} years old. ``` **Using Twig Functions** Twig also provides a range of functions that you can use to manipulate and display data. Here's an example: ```php // Controller public function indexAction() { $data = ['name' => 'John Doe', 'age' => 30]; return $this->render('index.html.twig', $data); } // Template (index.html.twig) {{ upper(data.name) }} is {{ age }} years old. ``` **Practical Takeaways** * Use the `render()` method to pass data from controllers to views. * Use Twig variables to store and display data in templates. * Use Twig functions to manipulate and display data in templates. **Further Reading** * [Symfony Documentation: Controllers](https://symfony.com/doc/current/controller.html) * [Twig Documentation: Variables](https://twig.symfony.com/doc/3.x/templates.html#variables) * [Twig Documentation: Functions](https://twig.symfony.com/doc/3.x/templates.html#functions) Do you have any questions about passing data between controllers and views in Symfony? Please leave a comment below. **What's Next?** In the next topic, we will cover 'Introduction to Doctrine ORM and its role in Symfony.' We will explore the basics of Doctrine ORM, how to install and configure it in a Symfony application, and how to use it to interact with databases. If you have any questions or need help with any of the topics covered in this course, please leave a comment below.