@jwheat sorry I couldn't reach out as quickly as I could, But with that exposure, I'm glad that @MikeHopley has written a well thought response (and a good one at that).

we have each written terrible code, I still can't write proper code even with Laravel. However precise elaborate (even TLDR;) questions in order to get concise opinion like those from @MikeHopley in order to pave you towards your path.

While suggestions these handle the routes - how to handle login state?