🧺 LarryMayers Portfolio Platform (Hybrid MVC + SPA Architecture)

📌 Overview

This project is a custom-built portfolio and application platform designed using a hybrid architecture:

• 🧠 PHP (MVC-style) for routing, controllers, and server-side rendering
• ⚡ Vanilla JavaScript (Async/AJAX) for dynamic UI updates and SPA-like behavior

The goal is to create a lightweight, framework-free web application that combines:

• The simplicity of PHP
• The responsiveness of modern front-end apps

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🏗️ Architecture

🔹 Core Concept

This application follows a Hybrid MVC + SPA pattern:

Client (Browser)
   ↓
JavaScript (AJAX / Fetch)
   ↓
PHP Router (index.php)
   ↓
Controller Logic (logic.php)
   ↓
View Rendering (templates)

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📁 Project Structure

/core
  /controllers
    routes.php        # Route definitions
    logic.php         # Controller functions

  /databases
    Database.php
    messages.sqlite

  /security
    Secrets.php

/templates
  /regions
    header.php
    header-nav.php
    footer.php

  home.php
  about.php
  contact.php
  projects.php
  resume.php

index.php              # Main application entry point

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🚦 Routing System

Routes are defined using a method + path key format:

'GET /projects' => ['handler' => 'projects'],
'POST /contact' => ['handler' => 'contactPost'],

🔹 Flow

1. Request enters index.php
2. URI + method are parsed
3. Route is matched from $routes
4. Corresponding controller function is executed

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🎮 Controller Layer (logic.php)

Each route maps to a controller function:

function projects(): void {
    view('projects');
}

Controllers are responsible for:

• Handling request logic
• Passing data to views
• Returning JSON (for API-like responses)

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🖼️ View System

Views are rendered using a shared layout:

function view(string $view_name, array $data = []): void {
    extract($data);
    require header;
    require nav;
    require view;
    require footer;
}

This ensures:

• Consistent layout
• Reusable components
• Clean separation of concerns

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⚡ Async / SPA Behavior

Although the app uses PHP rendering, it supports SPA-like navigation via JavaScript:

• Fetch content asynchronously
• Inject HTML into the DOM
• Avoid full page reloads

Example:

fetch('/projects')
  .then(res => res.text())
  .then(html => {
    document.getElementById('app').innerHTML = html;
  });

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🔁 Method Override Support

Supports REST-like behavior via POST:

$_POST['_method'] = 'PUT';

or

X-HTTP-Method-Override: PUT

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📬 Contact Form (Example API Behavior)

function contactPost(): void {
    echo json_encode(["message" => "Success"]);
}

Returns JSON responses for async handling.

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🚀 Future Enhancements

• Dedicated /api/* route namespace
• Authentication system
• Admin dashboard for content management
• Cartana price comparison engine integration
• Full client-side routing (history.pushState)

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🧠 Design Philosophy

This project intentionally avoids heavy frameworks to:

• Demonstrate core engineering fundamentals
• Maintain full control over architecture
• Showcase custom-built solutions

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👨🏽‍💻 Author

Larry Mayers Data Engineer | Web Developer | System Designer

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💡 Final Note

This is not just a portfolio — it is a living system designed to evolve into:

A data-driven platform combining web engineering, analytics, and real-world applications like Cartana.