Define a variable not explained - laravel

Question

Sorry for the dumb question but can anyone please tell me how to define a variable in very simple terms? I have struggled for several months with "undefined variable" errors. Are variables stored in config? Or maybe in routes?
I have a database with a customers table. When I put this on my view home page {{$customers->name}} I get Undefined variable: customers.
Fine. So how and where do I define a variable. I would have thought it WAS defined given that the database table is literally called customers. Ugh!
My model file Customer.php
<?php
namespace App;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class Customer extends Model
{
protected $fillable = ['name', 'phone'];
public function address()
{
return $this->hasOne(CustomerAddress::class);
}
public function purchases()
{
return $this->hasMany(CustomerPurchase::class);
}
}

Answer 1

Undefined variable means the variable does not exist and the reasons for your case is, you did not pass it in the view.
Usually, to get the customers records from the database to your views, you can do it in several ways:
Query it prior to loading your view then pass it to your views:
//doing it in the controller
//create a controller: php artisan make:controller CustomerController
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Routing\Controller as BaseController;
use App\Customer; //Dont forget to import your Customer model
class CustomerController extends BaseController
{
public function index()
{
$customers = Customer::get(); //this will fetch the customer using your mdoel
return view('customer', ['customers' => $customers]); //this will pass the records to the view
}
}
//then in your routes/web.php:
Route::get('/customers', 'CustomerController#index'); //when you go to your application/customers in the browser, it will go to the controller and return the view with the records.
//OR you can skip the controllers and do it in the routes/web.php directly as what #jitesh jose mentioned.
Query straight into your view (Not really recommended, but sometimes you just need to make it work)
In your customer.blade.php
#php
$customers = \App\Customer::get();
#endphp
<ul>
#foreach($customers as $customer)
<li>{{$customer->name}}</li>
#endforeach
</ul>
My advice, try to watch a few basic Laravel videos so that you will understand the flow of the request and response.

Answer 2

If your model name is Customer,laravel automatically pick the table name as customers.Otherwise you have to use your desired table name in Model as follows.
protected $table = 'customers_table';
In your web.php
Route::get('/home',function () {
$customers = DB::table('customers_table')->get();
OR
$customers = Customer::get();
return view('welcome')->with('customers',$customers);
});
You can use$customers in welcome.blade.php as
#foreach($customers as $customer)
{{$customer->name}}
#endforeach