I'm getting into api controllers and am wondering if this index function:

public function index()
{
    $data = DB::table('galleries')->get();
    return response()->json($data);
}

inside my api controller has to be returned with response()->json() or if it is OK to just return the variable:

public function index()
{
    $data = DB::table('galleries')->get();
    return $data;
}

Both seem to work. Are there reasons to use the former one?

CodePudding user response：

the return $data will just convert the $data into a json response. no header will be set and your frontend will not recognize it as a json object.

return response() will return a full Response instance. from the doc

Returning a full Response instance allows you to customize the response's HTTP status code and headers. A Response instance inherits from the Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response class, which provides a variety of methods for building HTTP responses

for return response()->json() method

The json method will automatically set the Content-Type header to application/json, as well as convert the given array to JSON using the json_encode PHP function

so this will be recognised as json object in your frontend. Read more at laravel doc.

CodePudding user response：

Both seem , both are correct but if you send as json it will be formal and in the fornt-end site they can use easily

CodePudding user response：

When you send something as a response which is not already an instance of a Response then Laravel will create a new instance of a Response with that as the content. When the response is sent and that object is an array (or arrayable) or something that is convertible to JSON then it is sent as a JSON response. At that point all relevant headers will be correct.

There are two parts of the source code to consider if you are curious on how this works:

1. The part that checks whether the response is already an instance of Response and constructs one if not
2. The part that decides whether a response content should be JSON

If you want my opinion then you should be doing response()->json(...) which creates a JsonResponse instance that has no chance to be ambiguous because otherwise you are relying on undocumented behavior which is subject to change.