Route prefixing in Laravel is a method that lets you apply a common URL prefix to a group of routes. This helps in keeping your routes structured and reduces repetitive code. For example, if you have a section for an admin panel, you can prefix all admin routes with /admin.
Basic Route Prefixing:
If you want to add a common prefix for a group of routes, you can use Route::prefix() to wrap the routes that share the same URL segment.

Route::prefix('admin')->group(function () {
  Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
    return view('admin.dashboard');
  });
  
  Route::get('/users', function () {
    return view('admin.users');
  });
});

In this example, both routes will be accessible under the /admin URL:
/admin/dashboard
/admin/users
This method significantly reduces repetition in your route definitions, especially for sections like admin, user, or api.

Prefixing with Middleware:
You can also use route prefixes along with middleware to enforce restrictions or apply features like authentication. For instance, you might want to ensure that users are logged in before accessing the admin section.

Route::prefix('admin')->middleware('auth')->group(function () {
  Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
    return view('admin.dashboard');
  });
  
  Route::get('/users', function () {
    return view('admin.users');
  });
});

This setup will ensure that any route prefixed with /admin will require the user to be authenticated.
Prefixing with Controllers:
Suppose you have a UserController for managing user-related tasks in the admin section. You can apply the prefix to all resource routes managed by that controller

Route::prefix('admin')->group(function () {
  Route::resource('users', UserController::class);
});

This will automatically generate routes like:
/admin/users
/admin/users/create
/admin/users/{user}

Using Prefix with Named Routes:
You can also apply route names to a group of prefixed routes. This is helpful for generating URLs or redirecting users programmatically. You can combine prefix() with name() to easily reference routes within the group.

Route::prefix('admin')->name('admin.')->group(function () {
  Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
    return view('admin.dashboard');
  })->name('dashboard');
  
  Route::get('/users', function () {
    return view('admin.users');
  })->name('users');
});

Now the routes can be referenced using their names:
route('admin.dashboard')
route('admin.users')

This makes your code more readable and easier to manage when working with redirects or links.