Php versions – "ReflectionException Function () does not exist" when trying to setup authentication in Laravel

I’m having some trouble getting authentication working 100% in Laravel (all views seem to work so far except for "home") and was hoping to get some assistance from the Laravel experts out there.

A bit of background info:

• PHP Version: 7.3.11
• Laravel Version: 8.13.0
• Used Composer to build the ui scaffolding (composer require laravel/ui)
• Used the Bootstrap ui option (php artisan ui bootstrap --auth)

The issue

As mentioned above, I seem to be able to access all of the generated authentication views so far (login, register & the password reset views), however after registering with a dummy account I get the following error when trying to access the "home" view:

ReflectionException

Function () does not exist

The Stack trace is pointing to the following file:
"vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/RouteSignatureParameters.php:23":

<?php

namespace IlluminateRouting;

use IlluminateSupportReflector;
use IlluminateSupportStr;
use ReflectionFunction;
use ReflectionMethod;

class RouteSignatureParameters
{
    /**
     * Extract the route action's signature parameters.
     *
     * @param  array  $action
     * @param  string|null  $subClass
     * @return array
     */
    public static function fromAction(array $action, $subClass = null)
    {
        $parameters = is_string($action['uses'])
                        ? static::fromClassMethodString($action['uses'])
                        : (new ReflectionFunction($action['uses']))->getParameters();

        return is_null($subClass) ? $parameters : array_filter($parameters, function ($p) use ($subClass) {
            return Reflector::isParameterSubclassOf($p, $subClass);
        });
    }

    /**
     * Get the parameters for the given class / method by string.
     *
     * @param  string  $uses
     * @return array
     */
    protected static function fromClassMethodString($uses)
    {
        [$class, $method] = Str::parseCallback($uses);

        if (! method_exists($class, $method) && Reflector::isCallable($class, $method)) {
            return [];
        }

        return (new ReflectionMethod($class, $method))->getParameters();
    }
}

With the following line (line 23) being highlighted as the error:

: (new ReflectionFunction($action['uses']))->getParameters();

And here are the routes used in the "web.php" file:

<?php

use IlluminateSupportFacadesRoute;

/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Web Routes
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Here is where you can register web routes for your application. These
| routes are loaded by the RouteServiceProvider within a group which
| contains the "web" middleware group. Now create something great!
|
*/

Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('welcome', ['pageTitle' => 'Home']);
});

Route::get('/services', function () {
    return view('services', ['pageTitle' => 'Services']);
});

Route::get('/contact', function () {
    return view('contact', ['pageTitle' => 'Contact']);
});

Auth::routes();

Route::get('/home', ['pageTitle' => 'Client Dashboard'], [AppHttpControllersHomeController::class, 'index'])->name('home');

After a bit of googling I’ve learnt that the method I’m trying to use to setup authentication has been deprecated and it is now advised to use Jetstream or Fortify, however I also found a few examples of people still managing to use this old method in their projects:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuGBzmHlINQ

As this is my first ever Laravel project I was really trying to just stick with the basics and not over complicate things for myself which is why I chose not to use Jetstream or Fortify and tried to stick to this older approach of setting up authentication. However I’ve been stuck on this for a couple of hours now and have not been able to figure out what’s going wrong which is why I’m now seeking some help with it.

Happy to provide extra details/project code if needed – any help I can get with this would be really appreciated.

Btw, this also happens to be my first ever post on StackOverflow so any feedback on my question or advice on how I can improve it would also be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

adb