Laravel 5.3 Array on routes - php

Question

I'm new to Laravel and still trying to get myself familiar with it's syntax since I originally programmed in Java.
I came across this syntax in one of the tutorials I'm watching.
Route::get('/', [
'uses'=>'ProductController#getIndex',
'as' => 'product.index'
]);
I understand that the ProductController is the controller class, #getIndex is the method (if you will) residing in the ProductController class.
What are uses, as and product.index? I see that they are pairs of keys and values.
Can I modify the uses and as to whatever name I want?
I don't see product.index anywhere in the folder. At first I thought it was a view.
These are the files.
web.php
Route::get('/', [
'uses'=>'ProductController#getIndex',
'as' => 'product.index'
]);
ProductController.php
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Http\Requests;
class ProductController extends Controller
{
public function getIndex(){
return view('shop.index');
}
}
Product.php
<?php
namespace App;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class Product extends Model
{
protected $fillable = ['imagePath','title','description','price'];
}
Please explain.
I'd appreciate any useful explanation to this.
Thank you.

Answer 1

What you've said is correct. The route is using the ProductController and asking for the getIndex() method. Yup you're free to name the routes how you'd like to, and your methods also.
As the the alias, 'as' is the route name see here (Named Routes).
'product.index'
is the route name.
So you could do...
Route::get('/', 'ProductController#getIndex')->name('product.index');
This would then allow you to use this route for say a redirection.
return redirect()->route('product.index');
It's totally optional to name a route.
Hope that helps!