What is the differnece between these two back() methods in laravel 5.2?

Question

I have tried both the back methods but i don't know which one is better or what is the difference between them.

function foo(Request $request){

    /*1st back method*/
    return back();

    /*2nd back method*/
    return redirect()->back();

}

Answer 1

They're the exact same , back() is just an alias. I personally prefer the latter as it's more readable and self-explanatory, as I'm redirecting the user back .

if (! function_exists('back')) {
    /**
     * Create a new redirect response to the previous location.
     *
     * @param  int    $status
     * @param  array  $headers
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\RedirectResponse
     */
    function back($status = 302, $headers = [])
    {
        return app('redirect')->back($status, $headers);
    }
}