Complete guide to routing strategies in upMVC.

🌟 START HERE: THE_COMPLETE_PICTURE.md - ⭐⭐⭐ Everything explained from .htaccess to controller - Why each piece exists, when to use each routing strategy, complete visual flow

Then read: ROUTING_GUIDE.md - ⭐ Complete unified routing guide - All routing types, decision tree, Router V2 features, and migration guides

• ROUTING_GUIDE.md - ⭐ NEW! Complete unified guide covering all 5 routing types with decision tree
• ROUTER_V2_EXAMPLES.md - ⭐ Router V2 enhanced features (type casting, validation, named routes)
• PARAMETERIZED_ROUTING.md - Complete guide to lightweight parameterized routing with admin module examples
• ROUTING_STRATEGIES.md - Detailed guide covering routing approaches, performance analysis, and implementation examples

All working code examples are in the examples/ directory:

• Router_PatternMatching.php - Production-ready Router with pattern matching support
• Router_PatternMatching_README.md - Installation and usage guide
• Pattern_Tester.php - Test script for pattern matching

• Routes_WithCache.php - Routes implementation with file-based caching
• Controller_WithCache.php - Controller with cache invalidation

NEW: ROUTING_GUIDE.md - ⭐ Complete Unified Routing Guide - All routing types, when to use each, decision tree, Router V2 features, and migration guides

upMVC offers 5 routing strategies. Use the decision tree:

How many records?
│
├─ 0 (Static pages) → Simple Static Routes
│
├─ < 100 records
│  ├─ Development? → Database-Driven (no cache)
│  └─ Production? → Cached Database Routes
│
├─ 100-1,000 records
│  ├─ Need type safety? → Router V2 Enhanced ⭐
│  ├─ Security-first? → Cached Database Routes
│  └─ Default → Parameterized Routing (Basic)
│
└─ > 1,000 records
   ├─ Need type safety? → Router V2 Enhanced ⭐
   └─ Default → Parameterized Routing (Basic)

Need type safety, validation, or named routes at any scale?
→ Use Router V2 Enhanced ⭐

See: ROUTING_GUIDE.md for complete decision tree and examples

Step 1: Create cache directory

New-Item -Path "modules/cache" -ItemType Directory -Force

Step 2: Copy example files

# Copy Routes implementation
Copy-Item "docs/routing/examples/Routes_WithCache.php" "modules/yourmodule/routes/Routes.php"

# Copy Controller with cache invalidation
Copy-Item "docs/routing/examples/Controller_WithCache.php" "modules/yourmodule/Controller.php"

Step 3: Update namespace in copied files to match your module

Step 4: Test - cache will be created on first request

Step 1: Backup original Router

Copy-Item "src/Etc/Router.php" "src/Etc/Router_BACKUP.php"

Step 2: Install pattern matching Router

Copy-Item "docs/routing/examples/Router_PatternMatching.php" "src/Etc/Router.php" -Force

Step 3: Update your routes to use patterns

// OLD: Explicit routes for each ID
foreach ($users as $user) {
    $router->addRoute('/users/edit/' . $user['id'], ...);
}

// NEW: Single pattern
$router->addRoute('/users/edit/{id}', Controller::class, 'display');

Step 4: Update controller to validate IDs

public function display()
{
    $userId = isset($_GET['id']) ? (int)$_GET['id'] : null;
    
    if (!$userId) {
        http_response_code(400);
        return;
    }
    
    $user = $this->model->getUserById($userId);
    if (!$user) {
        http_response_code(404);
        return;
    }
    
    // ... rest of logic
}

Learn more: ROUTING_GUIDE.md - Complete guide with decision tree, Router V2 features, and migration guides

The main ROUTING_STRATEGIES.md document covers:

1. Overview - Philosophy and approach comparison
2. The Three Approaches - Detailed explanation of each method
3. Detailed Comparison - Feature-by-feature comparison table
4. Performance Analysis - Real-world benchmarks
5. Implementation Examples - Complete working code
6. Pattern Matching Deep Dive - How pattern conversion works
7. Cache Strategy Deep Dive - Cache management techniques
8. Choosing the Right Approach - Decision tree
9. Migration Guides - Step-by-step migration instructions

// routes/Routes.php
public function routes($router)
{
    if ($this->isCacheValid()) {
        $this->loadCachedRoutes($router);
    } else {
        $users = $model->getAllUsers();
        foreach ($users as $user) {
            $router->addRoute('/admin/users/edit/' . $user['id'], ...);
        }
        $this->saveCache($routes);
    }
}

// Controller.php
private function createUser()
{
    $result = $this->model->createUser($data);
    Routes::clearCache(); // Invalidate cache
}

// routes/Routes.php
public function routes($router)
{
    $router->addRoute('/blog/post/{id}', Controller::class, 'display');
    $router->addRoute('/blog/{category}/{slug}', Controller::class, 'display');
}

// Controller.php
public function display()
{
    if (isset($_GET['id'])) {
        $post = $this->model->getPostById($_GET['id']);
        // Validate and display...
    }
}

php docs/routing/examples/Pattern_Tester.php

This will test various patterns and show regex conversion results.

// Add to your controller
$start = microtime(true);
$routes = new Routes();
$routes->routes($router);
$time = (microtime(true) - $start) * 1000;
echo "Route loading: {$time}ms";

• upMVC Main Documentation
• Module Philosophy - Understanding reference implementations
• Admin Module Example - Cached routing in action
• Pure PHP Philosophy - The upMVC approach

Q: Which approach should I use? A: Start with Cached DB for most applications. Only use Pattern Matching if you have > 100k records.

Q: Can I mix approaches? A: Yes! Use Cached DB for some modules and Pattern Matching for others.

Q: Is pattern matching secure? A: Yes, but you must validate IDs in your controller. Pattern matching only validates the URL structure, not the data.

Q: How often does cache refresh? A: Default is 1 hour, but you can configure it. Cache is also cleared on CRUD operations.

Q: What if I have millions of records? A: Use Pattern Matching. It has the same performance regardless of record count.