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Introduction

FastRoute makes it easy to build RESTful APIs by supporting all HTTP methods and allowing you to define multiple routes for the same URI with different methods.

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CRUD Operations

Here’s an example of implementing CRUD operations for an API resource: 
$r->addRoute('GET', '/api/test', 'test_get');
$r->addRoute('POST', '/api/test', 'test_post');
$r->addRoute('GET', '/api/items', 'items_get');
$r->addRoute('POST', '/api/items', 'items_post');
$r->addRoute('GET', '/api/items/1', 'item_get_1');

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Handler Functions

Each route references a handler function that processes the request: 
function test_get() {
    echo json_encode(["message" => "This is the test route (GET)"]);
}

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Complete REST API Example

Here’s a complete example showing a RESTful API implementation:
routes/api.php
<?php

use FastRoute\RouteCollector;

return function (RouteCollector $r) {
    // GET: Retrieve all items
    $r->addRoute('GET', '/api/items', 'items_get');
    
    // POST: Create a new item
    $r->addRoute('POST', '/api/items', 'items_post');
    
    // GET: Retrieve a specific item
    $r->addRoute('GET', '/api/items/1', 'item_get_1');
};

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Content Type Headers

For API routes, set the appropriate content type header:
index.php
if (strpos($uri, '/api/') === 0) {
    header('Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8');
} else {
    header('Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8');
}

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Route Groups

Organize related API routes using groups: 
$r->addGroup('/api/projects', function (FastRoute\RouteCollector $r) use($obj) {
    $r->get('/testing/test', function() use($obj) {
        $obj->hello();
    });
    $r->get("/", function() use($obj) {
        $obj->display(1);
    });
});

$r->addGroup('/api/tasks', function (FastRoute\RouteCollector $r) use($obj) {
    $r->get("/", function() use($obj) {
        $obj->display(2);
    });
});
Route groups automatically prefix all routes within the group, making it easy to organize your API endpoints.

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Best Practices

Use HTTP Methods

Use appropriate HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) for different operations

JSON Responses

Always return JSON responses for API endpoints

Group Related Routes

Use route groups to organize related endpoints

Handle Input

Parse request body using file_get_contents('php://input')

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Next Steps

Dynamic Parameters

Add dynamic parameters to your routes

HTTP Methods

Learn about all available HTTP methods