Quick Route Trick for Same Controllers in Different Namespaces

Now, in the Routes, we use the entire namespace to call the Controllers. We can shorten that in two ways.

Add "use" On Top

First, we can do this.

routes/web.php:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
use App\Http\Controllers\ProfileController;
use App\Http\Controllers\Student\TimetableController; 
 
Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('welcome');
});
 
Route::middleware(['auth', 'verified'])->group(function () {
    Route::prefix('student')
        ->middleware('role:1')
        ->name('student.')
        ->group(function () {
            Route::get('timetable', [\App\Http\Controllers\Student\TimetableController::class, 'index']) 
            Route::get('timetable', [TimetableController::class, 'index']) 
                ->name('timetable');
        });
 
    Route::prefix('teacher')
        ->middleware('role:2')
        ->name('teacher.')
        ->group(function () {
            Route::get('timetable', [\App\Http\Controllers\Teacher\TimetableController::class, 'index'])
                ->name('timetable');
        });
});
 
Route::middleware('auth')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'edit'])->name('profile.edit');
    Route::patch('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'update'])->name('profile.update');
    Route::delete('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'destroy'])->name('profile.destroy');
});
 
require __DIR__ . '/auth.php';

Wait, Controller Names are The Same

But what to do with the Teacher Controller when the Controller names are both TimetableController?

One way could be to use an alias.

routes/web.php:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
use App\Http\Controllers\ProfileController;
use App\Http\Controllers\Student\TimetableController;
use App\Http\Controllers\Teacher\TimetableController as TeacherTimetableController; 
 
Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('welcome');
});
 
Route::middleware(['auth', 'verified'])->group(function () {
    Route::prefix('student')
        ->middleware('role:1')
        ->name('student.')
        ->group(function () {
            Route::get('timetable', [TimetableController::class, 'index'])
                ->name('timetable');
        });
 
    Route::prefix('teacher')
        ->middleware('role:2')
        ->name('teacher.')
        ->group(function () {
            Route::get('timetable', [\App\Http\Controllers\Teacher\TimetableController::class, 'index']) 
            Route::get('timetable', [TeacherTimetableController::class, 'index']) 
                ->name('timetable');
        });
});
 
Route::middleware('auth')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'edit'])->name('profile.edit');
    Route::patch('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'update'])->name('profile.update');
    Route::delete('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'destroy'])->name('profile.destroy');
});
 
require __DIR__ . '/auth.php';

Another way is to use the namespace instead of a specific Controller. Then, when defining a Controller, we also use the last part of the namespace.

routes/web.php:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
use App\Http\Controllers\ProfileController;
use App\Http\Controllers\Student\TimetableController; 
use App\Http\Controllers\Teacher\TimetableController as TeacherTimetableController;
use App\Http\Controllers\Student; 
use App\Http\Controllers\Teacher;
 
Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('welcome');
});
 
Route::middleware(['auth', 'verified'])->group(function () {
    Route::prefix('student')
        ->middleware('role:1')
        ->name('student.')
        ->group(function () {
            Route::get('timetable', [TimetableController::class, 'index']) 
            Route::get('timetable', [Student\TimetableController::class, 'index']) 
                ->name('timetable');
        });
 
    Route::prefix('teacher')
        ->middleware('role:2')
        ->name('teacher.')
        ->group(function () {
            Route::get('timetable', [TeacherTimetableController::class, 'index']) 
            Route::get('timetable', [Teacher\TimetableController::class, 'index']) 
                ->name('timetable');
        });
});
 
Route::middleware('auth')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'edit'])->name('profile.edit');
    Route::patch('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'update'])->name('profile.update');
    Route::delete('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'destroy'])->name('profile.destroy');
});
 
require __DIR__ . '/auth.php';

I believe the last example is the best approach. The references to the Controllers are much shorter, and there is no conflict between the Controllers with the same name.