Hypertext pre-processor (PHP), an open-source server-side scripting language PHP is one of the most widely used programming languages, with almost 80% of all websites. It’s completely free to download and use and is powerful enough to power some of the biggest websites online (including WordPress, Facebook, and Wikipedia).
Since its creation in 1991, PHP has been around for quite some time, and there are now many quality options available. There are now a variety of frameworks available to make writing PHP code easier.
What makes you think you need to use a PHP framework first? And how do you decide which PHP framework is best for you?
This post will list the 10 best PHP frameworks and provide you with the information you need to choose the right one for you.
Why would you want to use a PHP framework?
A PHP framework provides an easy way to create websites using a simple programming language. We use them because we think they help us develop our products faster.
Above all, the speed of websites and applications built with PHP frameworks helps businesses fulfil performance needs. There’s no doubt that PHP frameworks will continue gaining attention and popularity next year.
What should you look out for when choosing a framework?
There are several things you should look for when choosing a PHP Framework.
From a high level: You should consider these things when deciding whether to use a particular
- Popularity and community sizes: Frameworks are frequently community-driven. Ensuring a community supports and maintains a framework is a massive benefit.
- Philosophy: What is the framework trying to accomplish? If it doesn’t match your own business needs and objectives, perhaps you should look for an alternate solution.
- Sustainability: Is the framework frequently maintained? Will it support your technology stacks both now and in the near future?
- Support: Is there anyone who can help you if you have any questions? Frequently, these criteria will tie back into the size of the community and its popularity. You should always have documentation and online resources available to help you with any problems.
Before committing to new technology, you might want to try it out. You don’t have to test everything, just two or three to see how they work for you. They might be better or worse than the one you’re using now!
This is a list of the top frameworks when it comes down to PHP and creating applications.
10 of the best PHP frameworks
Laravel
Introduced in 2011, Laravel has become the most comprehensive and fastest free open-source PHP framework for developing MVC web applications. Why? Because it can handle complex web applications securely, at a considerably faster pace than other frameworks. Laravel simplifies the development process by easing common tasks such as creating secure forms, validating data submitted through them, creating models and controllers to map user data with the application’s services, and providing authentication features such as session management features.
Reasons to use Laravel
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- Laravel is useful when building anything from a simple blog site to complex backend solutions and writing scripts that generate dynamic web pages. Laravel is easy to install and can be done within a virtual machine called Homestead.
- With this PHP framework, you’ll be able to create complex apps with a number of features. One of these is seamless data migration; there are many more. You can also use this framework to create MVC architecture, have security and routing and view template engine.
Furthermore, this framework has an authentication system.
- Laravel is one of the most highly regarded PHP frameworks today and allows developers to create websites with speed and security. It’s the best option for business owners who want to build a website that will change as trends come and go in the growing online marketplace. Laravel has strong B2B capabilities, perfect for enterprise-level customers because it can be customized to suit their needs!
CodeIgniter
Known for its small footprint (only about 2 MB in size), the CodeIgniter PHP framework is suitable for developing dynamic websites. It may also be used to deploy business applications that require a large amount of complex functionality. Modules such as ORM integration, authentication, caching, mail services, and built-in libraries, including application helpers and much more, not only helps make development considerably quicker and reduce the overall amount of code written. Reasons to use CodeIgniter
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- CodeIgniter is an easy-to-use and straightforward PHP framework that doesn’t require additional setup. Because of its simple setup process and highly detailed documentation, it’d be ideal for beginners.
- Key features include an MVC architecture, top-notch error handling, built-in security tools, and simple, easy-to-use documentation. Scalable apps allow you to create apps for different devices at once.
- Compared with other frameworks like Laravel, CodeIgniter is significantly faster. It’s a good option for developing lightweight applications to run on modestly powerful servers. There are some caveats: CodeIgniter releases aren’t always regular, so the framework isn’t a good choice for applications that require high-level security.
Symfony
Symfony was released in 2005, and although it’s been around for much longer than other platforms on this list, it’s a reliable and mature platform Symfony is a comprehensive PHP MVC framework and one of the few frameworks known to follow PHP and Web standards to the tee.Reasons to use Symfony.
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- Symfony is an excellent choice for developing large-scale enterprise applications. It’s simple to install and configure on almost any platform.
- One of its key features? It’s a reusable PHP component. It has a database engine–independent architecture, and it’ll comply with most web best practices and allow for integration with other vendor libraries.
- Symfony is highly flexible and can be integrated with more significant projects like Drupal and WordPress. Symfony and PHP have many common and unique characteristics, making it difficult to say which framework is better.
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Laravel focuses more on simplifying things and delivering value, even if you’re not an advanced developer. Symfony targets advanced programmers and are harder than Laravel to get started with. Furthermore, the Symfony Security mechanism is difficult for beginners to use. And, because it allows developers to “do it all,” it can be slower than some other frameworks.
CakePHP
CakePHP is an easy-to-use, powerful framework that helps you create visually unique, feature-rich websites. Furthermore, CakePHP is an easy framework to learn, mainly because it has a CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) framework. CakePHP has been around for a long time, and since then, it has improved its performance and added many new features.Reasons to use CakePHP.
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- CakePHP is easy to install, as all you need is a web server and a version of the framework.
- It’s a good choice for commercial web applications because it offers security features, including SQL injection prevention, input validation, CSRF protection, and XSS protection.
- Key features include a modern framework, fast build times, proper class inheritance, validations, and security. It has excellent documentation, many support sites, and premium support through the Cake Development Corporation.
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Yii
Yii Framework: It’s Simple and Evolutionary. It’s an open-source, component-based PHP framework for developing modern web applications. Yii is suitable both for small and large web applications. Because of this, it’s an open-source web programming framework.Reasons to use Yii
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- It’s easy to install Yii. Its robust security features allow it to be used for highly secure ventures such as e-commerce sites, portals, content management systems, forums, and many other applications.
- It boasts the excellent speed, performance, and extensibility. It lets developers avoid the complexity of writing repetitive SQL statements by modelling the database data in terms of objects.
- Yii has a strong core developer team and many experts who contribute to its development. With a huge community using it, you could post questions on the Yii forums and get answers.
- Yii is highly extendable, and you can customize almost everything about its code. However, if it’s your first time using it, prepare yourself for a steep learning curve.
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Zend Framework
Zend Framework is an object-oriented framework that uses features such as interfaces and inheritance. It was built using agile development techniques, which help you deliver high-quality applications to enterprise clients. Zend Framework is highly configurable and adheres to PHP best practices—a key point for developers looking to add project-specific functionality.Reasons to use Zend
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- Zend Framework is an excellent choice for large, complex, enterprise-level applications, and it’s a preferred framework for large IT organizations and financial institutions.
- Some key features include components for MVC, simple cloud API, data security, and session management.
- It can integrate with third-party libraries, choosing which components you want to use. The Zend Framework comes with excellent documentation and has a large user base. On the other hand, if you’re a mobile app builder, prepare yourself for a steep learning curve!
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Phalcon
A full-stack web development framework that employs the MVW web architecture design pattern was initially developed in C and C++ in 2012. Since it’s delivered as a C-Extension, you don’t have to worry about learning the C programming language.Reasons to use Phalcon.
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- Phalcon is an easy-to-install framework suitable for creating highly configurable web applications that follow enterprise development guidelines.
- Key features include faster execution, better asset management, a universal autoloader, and top security and caching.
- Unlike other frameworks, PHP Framework Phalcon uses an optimized memory management system. If you’re looking to create a blazing-fast website, give Phalacon a try.
- On the negative side of things, Phalcon developers tend to be slow to fix bugs, which may not match today’s needs for high levels of security.
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FuelPHP
FuelPHP is a flexible, full-stack PHP framework first released back in 2011. It supports both the MVC design pattern and its version called the HMVC. Unlike MVC, with HMVC, you don’t need to duplicate content to display on multiple pages. As a result, using this algorithm takes less time and uses less memory than the others. Reasons to use FuelPHP.
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- FuelPHP helps web developers create end-to-end solutions diverse in scale and complexity.
- Key features include HMVC implementation, RESTful implementation (REST), a URL routing system, security protection, and a caching mechanism.
- It goes beyond conventional security measures, making it an excellent choice if security is essential for your project. Because FuelPHP has been around for a shorter time than Laravel, it offers less support, and it also presents a steeper learning curve than Laravel.
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There are some very exciting times for PHP! It’s currently one of the most popular coding languages used in web-based applications. However, making sure you choose the right PHP framework is essential because it can help simplify complex development tasks. When choosing a PHP framework, there are many things to consider, such as the level of community and documentation that comes with each one as they vary dramatically.
As such, the decision on which framework to use will largely be determined by various factors such as security and performance. An excellent way to approach this aspect is by starting at the beginning with what your project requires – after all, and you wouldn’t wear something that wasn’t suitable for where you’re going or what’s expected of you when you get there! Then, once you’ve honed in on a pattern or structure for your project that allows it to do more efficiently what needs to be done, picking up the right framework will be accessible using this excellent resource.