Create a Google Drive Clone using Laravel and Vue.js – Thorough Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will walk you through the process of creating a Google Drive clone using Laravel and Vue.js. We will cover everything from setting up your development environment to creating the frontend and backend components of the application.

Step 1: Setting up your development environment

Before we can start coding our Google Drive clone, we need to set up our development environment. To do this, you will need to have Laravel and Vue.js installed on your machine.

To install Laravel, you can follow the official documentation at https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/installation. Laravel requires PHP and Composer to be installed on your machine. Once you have Laravel installed, you can create a new Laravel project by running the following command:

laravel new drive-clone

Next, you will need to install Vue.js. You can do this by running the following command:

npm install -g @vue/cli

After installing Vue.js, you can create a new Vue.js project inside your Laravel project by running the following command:

vue create frontend

Step 2: Creating the backend

Now that we have our development environment set up, we can start creating the backend of our Google Drive clone. We will be using Laravel to create the backend API for our application.

First, let’s create a new controller for handling file uploads. You can do this by running the following command:

php artisan make:controller FileController

Next, open the newly created FileController.php file in the app/Http/Controllers directory. Inside the controller, create a method for uploading files:

public function uploadFile(Request $request)
{
    $file = $request->file('file');
    $fileName = $file->getClientOriginalName();
    $file->storeAs('uploads', $fileName);

    return response()->json(['message' => 'File uploaded successfully']);
}

Now, let’s create a route for handling file uploads. Open the routes/api.php file and add the following route:

Route::post('upload', 'FileController@uploadFile');

Step 3: Creating the frontend

With the backend setup, we can now move on to creating the frontend of our Google Drive clone. We will be using Vue.js to create the frontend components of our application.

First, let’s create a new component for uploading files. Inside the frontend/src/components directory, create a new file called UploadFile.vue and add the following code:

<template>
    <div>
        <input type="file" @change="uploadFile">
    </div>
</template>

<script>
export default {
    methods: {
        uploadFile(e) {
            let file = e.target.files[0];
            let formData = new FormData();
            formData.append('file', file);

            axios.post('/api/upload', formData, {
                headers: {
                    'Content-Type': 'multipart/form-data'
                }
            }).then(response => {
                console.log(response.data.message);
            }).catch(error => {
                console.log(error.response.data.message);
            });
        }
    }
}
</script>

Next, let’s include our UploadFile component in the App.vue file. Update the App.vue file as follows:

<template>
    <div>
        <upload-file></upload-file>
    </div>
</template>

<script>
import UploadFile from './components/UploadFile';

export default {
    components: {
        UploadFile
    }
}
</script>

Step 4: Testing the application

Now that we have created both the backend and frontend components of our Google Drive clone, we can test the application. Start by running the Laravel server:

php artisan serve

Next, navigate to the frontend directory and run the Vue.js development server:

npm run serve

Now, open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:8080 to see the frontend of your Google Drive clone. Try uploading a file using the UploadFile component and check the backend to see if the file was successfully uploaded.

Congratulations! You have successfully created a Google Drive clone using Laravel and Vue.js. You can now customize the application further by adding features such as file sharing, folder organization, and user authentication. Happy coding!