Today I prepared a list of PHP frameworks with their pro’s and con’s described. I do hope that this list will prove useful to you. Please, enjoy!
Laravel
PHP Version Required 5.5.9
Laravel is a comprehensive framework designed for rapidly building applications using the MVC architecture. It is the most popular PHP framework nowadays with a huge community of developers.
PRO’s:
· Organize files and code
· Rapid application development
· MVC architecture (and PHP7)
· Unit testing (FAST on HHVM)
· Best documentation of any
· High level of abstraction
· Overloading capabilities using dynamic methods
· Tons of out of the box functionality
· payment integration with stripe
· very strong encryption packages
· ORM
CON’s:
· Does Many queries on your database
Phalcon
PHP Version Required 5.3
Phalcon is a MVC based PHP framework. It uses very few resources in comparison to other frameworks, translating into very fast processing of HTTP requests, which can be critical for developers working with systems that don’t offer much overhead.
Phalcon brings developers data storage tools such as its own SQL dialect: PHQL, as well as Object Document Mapping for MongoDB. Other features include Template engines, form builders, ease of building applications with international language support, and more. Phalcon is ideal for building both performance REST APIs, as well as full-fledged web applications.
PRO’s:
· Blazing fast with low overheads
· Auto loading
· Unique in that it is based as a C-extension
· VERY good Security features built-in
· Lots of documentation
· Developer friendly
CON’s:
· Does not work with HHVM
Symfony
PHP Version Required 5.5.9
The leading PHP framework to create websites and web applications. Built on top of the Symfony Components — a set of decoupled and reusable components on which the best PHP applications are built, such as Drupal, phpBB, and eZ Publish.
PRO’s:
· High performance, due to byte code caching
· Stable
· Well documented, maintained, and supported
· Very good support and is very mature
CON’s:
· While the documentation is good, there is a steep learning curve.
CodeIgniter
PHP Version Required 5.4
CodeIgniter is a powerful PHP framework with a very small footprint, built for developers who need a simple and elegant toolkit to create full-featured web applications.
PRO’s:
· Very developer friendly
· Doesn’t need any special dependencies or supports
· Ability to use normal web hosting services well, using standard databases such as MySQL
· Outperforms most other frameworks (non MVC)
· Good documentation and LTS (Long Term Support)
CON’s:
· No namespace’s, however this can speed up
· Not as friendly towards unit testing as others
· Few libraries that are built inside the framework
· Severely out of date and does not support modern PHP features (tx @AshleyJSheridan)
· Has security issues which have been outstanding for years without being patched by the dev team (tx @AshleyJSheridan)
CakePHP
PHP Version Required 5.5.9
CakePHP makes building web applications simpler, faster, while requiring less code. A modern PHP 7 framework offering a flexible database access layer and a powerful scaffolding system that makes building both small and complex systems simpler, easier and, of course, tastier. Build fast, grow solid with CakePHP.
PRO’s:
· Modern framework · Supports PHP 5.5+
· Scaffholding system and Fast builds
· Very good for commercial web applications (MIT License)
· Database Access, Caching, Validation, Authentication, are built in
· Extensive safekeeping tools include cross site
· scripting prevention, SQL Injection prevention,
· CSRF, and Form Validation · Good Documentation
· Actively developed
CON’s:
· Not as good for constructing Restful APIS as Laravel or others listed
Zend
PHP Version Required 5.6, 7.0
Zend Framework is a collection of professional PHP packages with more than 158 million installations. It can be used to develop web applications and services using PHP 5.6+, and provides 100% object-oriented code using a broad spectrum of language features.
Zend Framework uses Composer as a package dependency manager; PHPUnit to test all packages; and Travis CI as a Continuous Integration service. Zend Framework also follows PHP-FIG standards, and includes an implementation of PSR-7 for HTTP message interfaces.
PRO’s:
· Ideal for enterprise applications
· Object oriented
· Tons of components for validation, feeds, and forms
· Decoupled
CON’s:
· Not as ideal for rapid application development
FuelPHP
PHP Version Required 5.3.3
FuelPHP is a simple, flexible, community driven PHP 5.3+ framework, based on the best ideas of other frameworks, with a fresh start!
PRO’s:
· Caching is Optional · Authentication packages
· Restful building · URL routing
· Modular with integrated ORM
· New version will be fully object oriented, can be installed using composer, and one installation can
· supports multiple applications
CON’s:
· Not very beginner friendly (slim support documentation)
· It is a relatively new framework with less support
· Open source Community contributions are less than others (like Laravel and Phalcon)
Slim
PHP Version Required 5.5
Slim is a PHP micro framework that helps you quickly write simple yet powerful web applications and APIs.
PRO’s:
· The fastest RESTful Framework available
· Enough documentation to get you off the ground
· Perfect for Small rest apis
· Actively developed
· Add-ons include: HTTP Caching, & Flash
CON’s:
· Minimal add-ons on the stock composer when installed.
Phpixie
PHP Version Required 5.3
One of the most popular fullstack PHP frameworks. It comes bundled with great tools for cryptography and security, support for MongoDB, and code sharing with composer, all right out of the box.
PRO’s:
· Relatively new framework
· Easy to get started
· Documentation with code samples
· Impressive Routing System
· Ability to Compile fast
· HMVC Pattern oriented
CON’s:
· Very few modules
· No support on components that are independently made from the dependencies
Fat-Free
PHP Version Required 5.5
A powerful yet easy-to-use PHP micro-framework designed to help you build dynamic and robust web applications — fast!
PRO’s:
· Light weight
· Small learning curve
· Very fast with optimizations for URL routing, cache engines, code
· Good for multilingual applications
· Off the shelf support for SQL or No SQL
· Databases
· Tons of packages including unit testing, image
· Processing, JavaScript / CSS compressing, data validation, Open id and more
CON’s:
· Kind of overkill for a micro framework
· No new options compared to others
· There is code repetition is places other MVC frameworks can take care of
Aura
PHP Version Required 5.4
The Aura project centers around a collection of high-quality, well-tested, semantically versioned, standards-compliant, independent library packages that can be used in any codebase.
Each library is self-contained and has only the things it needs for its core purpose. None of the library packages depends on any other package. They are decoupled, not only from any particular framework, but also from each other. This means developers can use as much or as little of the project as necessary.
PRO’s:
· Slim and lightweight
· Getting started guide
· Perfect for Small rest apis
· Actively developed
· Add-ons include: HTTP Caching, & Flash
CON’s:
· Not found
SilverStripe
(tx @camerongrant)
SilverStripe is a free and open source Content Management System (CMS) and Framework for creating and maintaining websites and web applications.
That’s all for today.
Have a nice day!
Source: https://medium.com/level-up-web/best-php-frameworks-for-web-developers-in-2017-c8a041671a79