I built an app using a single index.php file, here's how it went

Want to build an app but are too tired of the complicated mess that is modern web development? Try using just a single index.php file for your project! You certainly will not regret adding every shred of functionality into a single index.php file (okay maybe a little).

In this video, I talk about Pieter Levels (levelsio) and his unorthodox and recently-criticized way of building, maintaining, and deploying his popular websites. That is, he builds everything in a single index.php file, sometimes tens of thousands of lines long, and pushes out deployments without a test suite directly to main.

It's certainly unorthodox, but there's a kind of simplistic beauty to it that is truly alluring. In this day and age it's all about large frameworks that abstract out the gritty details of building a website (like routing, database connections, and caching). Starting this way almost feels like building a cabin in the woods with hand tools.

The end result though isn't super terrible. At least in the example app I put together, after a while I'm able to easily hop to a place in my file that I know functionality lies, debugging is pretty straightforward, and adding new features is tedious but straightforward without fighting a framework.

Would I do this for a full-fledged app of my own? Probably not. But it's an interesting experience nonetheless and definitely had me admired.

Interested in learning how to build a real-world practical SaaS app with Laravel and Filament? Check out my latest full-fledged course at https://selfmadesaas.com.

- 0:00 Intro
- 1:30 Starting with a database
- 3:59 Creating an admin panel
- 8:32 Admin user logins
- 14:10 Finishing the admin panel
- 20:22 Building the main view
- 23:28 Showing individual pages
- 25:10 Displaying and saving comments
- 28:48 Final thoughts

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