Support Features

LavaLust comes with a variety of built-in features to make development faster and easier:

Features

LavaLust ships with a practical set of built-in features covering the most common web development needs. Everything listed below is available out of the box — no third-party packages required.

Architecture

Feature	Description
MVC Pattern	Organises code into Models, Views, and Controllers for a clean separation of data, logic, and presentation.
Super Lightweight	Minimal core footprint with on-demand loading — only the libraries your application actually uses are loaded per request.
Search-Engine Friendly URLs	Segment-based routing (example.com/news/article/345) instead of query strings, producing clean and indexable URLs.
Middleware	Attach reusable request/response logic (authentication, rate limiting, logging) to individual routes or route groups.
RESTful API Support	First-class support for GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE routes with JSON request/response helpers built in.

Database

Feature	Description
Query Builder	Fluent, chainable interface for building SQL queries safely without writing raw SQL. Supports filtering, ordering, joins, and pagination.
Migration Class	Version-controlled schema management. Define table structures in PHP and apply or roll back changes with a single command.

HTTP & Routing

Feature	Description
Request Class	Read and validate incoming data from GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, JSON bodies, headers, cookies, and file uploads.
Response Class	Build and send HTTP responses — JSON, HTML, plain text, XML, file downloads, redirects, and streaming — with full header and status code control.
File Uploading	Validate and store uploaded files with configurable type whitelists, size limits, and destination paths.
File Downloading	Serve files as browser downloads or inline with automatic MIME type detection and chunked streaming.
Page Caching	Cache rendered page output to disk and serve it directly on subsequent requests, bypassing controller and database overhead.
Pagination	Generate paginated query results and the corresponding navigation links with minimal configuration.

Forms & Validation

Feature	Description
Form Validation	Declarative validation rules (required, min length, regex, custom callbacks) with automatic error message generation.
Session Management	Secure server-side session handling with support for flash data, session destruction, and configurable storage drivers.
Encryption	Encrypt and decrypt arbitrary strings using OpenSSL. Used internally for securing session data and cookies.

Utilities

Feature	Description
Email	Send plain-text or HTML emails via PHP mail, SMTP, or Sendmail with support for attachments and multiple recipients.
Logger	Write timestamped log entries at configurable severity levels (debug, info, warning, error) to log files.
Performance Class	Measure execution time and memory usage between arbitrary checkpoints to identify bottlenecks during development.
Config Class	Load, read, and override configuration values at runtime from any config file without restarting the application.
Helper Functions	A collection of standalone utility functions for common tasks — URL generation, string manipulation, array handling, date formatting, and more. Load only the helpers your application needs.

Feature Summary

Feature	Category	Quick reference
MVC Pattern	Architecture	app/controllers/, app/models/, app/views/
Lightweight Core	Architecture	On-demand class loading
SEO-Friendly URLs	Architecture	Segment-based routing in app/config/routes.php
Middleware	Architecture	app/middleware/
RESTful API	Architecture	$router->get/post/put/patch/delete()
Query Builder	Database	$this->db->select()->from()->where()->get()
Migrations	Database	app/migrations/ + php lava migrate
Request	HTTP	$this->request->input/post/get/json()
Response	HTTP	$this->response->send_json/html/redirect()
File Uploading	HTTP	$this->call->library('upload')
File Downloading	HTTP	$this->response->download()
Page Caching	HTTP	$this->output->cache($minutes)
Pagination	HTTP	$this->call->library('pagination')
Form Validation	Forms	$this->call->library('form_validation')
Session	Forms	$this->session->set/get/flashdata()
Encryption	Forms	$this->call->library('encryption')
Email	Utilities	$this->call->library('email')
Logger	Utilities	$this->call->library('logger')
Performance	Utilities	$this->call->library('performance')
Config	Utilities	config_item('key') / $this->config->set_item()
Helpers	Utilities	$this->call->helper('url/string/array/...')