Protected Routes & Middleware

Imagine a VIP lounge. Not everyone can just walk in, right? Some areas of your application, like a user's profile or settings, are just like that VIP lounge. They contain sensitive data or allow critical actions.

These are called protected routes. They ensure that only authenticated and authorized users can access specific resources or perform certain operations. Without them, anyone could potentially view or alter sensitive user data.

How do we protect these routes? That's where middleware comes in!

Middleware functions are like security guards that stand between a client's request and your server's route handler. They can inspect, modify, or even terminate requests before they reach their final destination.

Think of it as a checkpoint. Every request must pass through, and the middleware decides if it's allowed to proceed.