# LightMVC - Lightweight PHP MVC Framework

A minimal, PSR-4 compliant PHP MVC framework designed for simplicity and scalability.

## Directory Structure

```text
├── app/
│   ├── Controllers/  # Application logic (Controllers)
│   ├── Models/       # Data structures (Models)
│   └── Views/        # UI templates (Views)
├── core/             # Framework engine
│   ├── Application.php
│   ├── Controller.php
│   ├── Request.php
│   ├── Response.php
│   ├── Router.php
│   └── View.php
├── public/           # Entry point and static assets
│   ├── css/          # Custom CSS files
│   ├── js/           # Custom JS files
│   └── images/       # Static images
├── node_modules/     # Frontend dependencies
├── vendor/           # Composer dependencies
```

## Asset Management & npm

This project uses `npm` for frontend dependencies (e.g., Bootstrap).

1. Initialize/Install: `npm install`
2. Add custom CSS/JS in `public/css/app.css` and `public/js/app.js`.
3. Reference assets in `app/Views/layouts/main.php`.

## How It Works

1.  **Request Flow**: Requests hit `public/index.php`.
2.  **Initialization**: `Core\Application` initializes `Request`, `Response`, `Router`, and `View`.
3.  **Routing**: The `Router` matches the `Request` path against registered routes.
4.  **Dispatching**: If a match is found, the `Router` instantiates the controller and invokes the requested method.
5.  **Controller Action**: The controller handles business logic and returns a `View` using `$this->render()`.
6.  **Response**: `View` loads the layout from `app/Views/layouts/main.php`, injects the view content into the `{{content}}` placeholder, and returns the response.

## Adding a New Route

In `public/index.php`, register a route mapping a path to a controller method:

```php
$app->router->get('/path', [ControllerClass::class, 'methodName']);
```

## API Routing

API routes are registered in `public/index.php` with the `/api/` prefix to keep them separate from regular page routes.

### Example API Route

```php
$app->router->get('/api/ping', [App\Controllers\ApiController::class, 'ping']);
```

### API Controller

The `ApiController` class lives in `app/Controllers/ApiController.php` and should contain methods for API endpoints.

Example:
```php
<?php
namespace App\Controllers;

use Core\Controller;

class ApiController extends Controller
{
    public function ping()
    {
        // Simple health-check endpoint
        $this->response->setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
        $this->response->setBody(json_encode(['status' => 'ok', 'time' => microtime(true)]));
    }
}
```

### Testing the API

You can test the `/api/ping` endpoint with:
```bash
curl http://localhost/api/ping
```

Expected response:
```json
{"status":"ok","time":1718409600.123}
```