Best PHP frameworks and their advantages

You already know that PHP is the most popular server-side scripting language. PHP is used by 82% of the majority web server. The reason why PHP so popular is its interactive features, great HTML and database integration support and easy to learn.

But, do you know more than 37 PHP frameworks are out there. Most of them are made by the community around the world and free to use. And you already know that frameworks are very useful in our previous story.

To help you to choose the best PHP framework for your next project, here we listed the most popular and easy to use the framework with their advantages.

So, Let's find out them -

1. Laravel

Larval still in its early days, but gaining popularity day by day among PHP developers. It is a very user-friendly framework that exists in today’s market as is known as the best development framework available for users and non-developers. The main reason behind is built-in features like "flexible routing", "easy database interaction", "Blade templating engine", "plugins". This framework is suitable for various sectors like RESTful application, small business app or big enterprise solution. Laravel supports many databases such as SQLite, PostgreSQL, Microsoft BI, MySQL, MongoDB, and Redis. Also, it has a strong community and updated forums helping and solving doubts of different users around the globe.

Advantages:

• Extensive compilers for package distribution and management

• MVC architecture

• A simple and flexible routing mechanism

• Thousands of packages for expanding the modules and functionalities of the framework

• Good forums and community for better learning

2. CodeIgniter

CodeIgniter is an open source PHP framework that maintains by EllisLab. It's a lightweight Application Development Framework, a toolkit for people who build websites using PHP, which provides a simple platform for developers. CodeIgniter has managed to gain recognition for its classic performance. In fact, it has the ability to support the next generation of application development that requires simplified coding. However, CodeIgniter is not a perfect PHP substitute - it is a PHP driven framework that includes a grab-bag of plug-ins, libraries, modules, and other resources to support complicated PHP procedures and functions.

Advantages:

• It helps web developers to find out the errors in programming codes and fix-up the issues instantly in the web applications.

• User-friendly interface that helps developers to create dynamic, flexible, secure and large web applications effectively in a short span of time.

• It provides suppleness and effortless management with an MVC based framework

• Excellent documentation of the user guide that helps coders to use the entire framework easily

• Using CodeIgniter, You can construct your own cleaner URI lines

3. CakePHP

CakePHP is a rapid development framework for PHP which uses commonly known design patterns like ActiveRecord, Association Data Mapping, Front Controller and MVC. The idea behind CakePHP was to make developing applications fast by implementing "convention over configuration". With the features like fast coding, better security, and Ajax support, CakePHP helps in creating robust business websites which are completely customizable and in accordance with the W3C standards. The integrated CRUD (create, read, update and delete) is a handy feature in CakePHP for your database interaction. It takes care of SQL injection, data validation, form spoofing, and CSRF.

Advantages:

• CakePHP is easy to use CakePHP. You don't need to be an expert to work on this great platform.

• It is based on the Model View Controller (MVC) that helps in saving the queries to the database.

• Ajax helper class in the core lib which you could use in various ways like; form submit through Ajax, Event observer or build in Autocomplete.

• CakePHP is fast in processing that can be used to develop amazing web applications. It provides cool features for data validation that makes it highly flexible.

• With the help of several built-in tools such as SQL injection prevention, CSRF protection, and input validation; CakePHP is considered as an authorized tool.

4. Symfony

This framework follows Ruby-On-Rails like programming methods. It is an open source website development framework developed by SensioLabs, which comes with pre-built up code that helps developers to make changes and integrate them into a website application easily. It is designed for providing higher stability and greater performance with greater flexibility. Symfony is a flexible, scalable yet powerful PHP frameworks for MVC application. There are plenty of reusable PHP components that can be used like Security, Templating, Translation, Validator, Form Config and more. Like Laravel, it's also modularized with Composer. It is powerful and helps to reduce the problem of repetitive coding structure. Also, it guarantees a stable platform that makes it one of the highly sought PHP frameworks around the world.

Advantages:

• The framework includes a wide set of command line tools which are helpful during the project management and development process.

• It is considered the most stable available framework after Laravel

• The system is presented as a bundle, which allows everything to change within Symfony, including the core itself.

• Adding a new feature to the framework is very simple, just need to create a plug-in, which can be reused in another project, this will immensely save your time.

• Good community for learning website development

5. Yii

Yii is a component-based high-performance PHP framework for developing large-scale Web applications. Yii is written in strict OOP and comes with thorough class reference and comprehensive tutorials. It is the most secure, higher and faster performing PHP framework development tool available in the market. It was developed by Qiang Xue to make website development an easy job. Its compilers are designed with a dependency manager that handles PHP codes very efficiently. Yii has built-in integration with a great PHP testing framework, CodeCeption, to test your application easier and faster. It also supports database management systems like SQLite, Oracle, MySQL, MongoDB, Microsoft Bi, and PostgreSQL.

Advantages:

• It is used for real-time application development as it provides faster operations than the other frameworks

• It is the better option when comes the need for creating ‘Restful’ web development and services

• It has a better template system than other frameworks

• On the spot error flow detection and handling features

• Has a good community for e-learning and for acquiring knowledge about website programming and development

6. Phalcon

Speed is the USP of these top PHP frameworks. It's a full-stack PHP framework that employs the MVC web architecture design pattern. This framework uses lesser memory and the time request is faster when compared with other PHP frameworks.

Advantages:

• 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

7. Zend Framework

The Zend framework is a complete object-oriented framework. This is one of the very lightweight & popular PHP frameworks that is fully featured. It uses features such as interfaces and inheritance makes it extendable. It was built on the agile methodology, which helps you to deliver high-quality applications to enterprise clients. Zend is highly customizable and abides by PHP best practices that let developers add project-specific functionality.

Advantages:

• The framework is an excellent fit for complex, enterprise-level projects.

• It’s the preferred framework for large IT departments and banks.

• Key features include MVC components, simple cloud API, data encryption, and session management.

• It can integrate with external libraries, and you can use only the components you want.

• The Zend framework comes with extremely good documentation and has a large community base.

8. FuelPHP

FuelPHP is a relatively new PHP framework, first launched in 2014. The creators claim to have gathered the best practices out of other powerful frameworks and created something new and exciting. It's a modular, extendable, and flexible PHP framework. The full-stack framework supports the MVC pattern as well as its evolved version Hierarchical-Model-View-Controller (HMVC) at the architecture level. FuelPHP is suitable for delivering end-to-end web solutions of diverse sizes and complexities.

Advantages:

• Full support for HMVC

• Hardened security out of the box

• A unique command line utility

• Caching is Optional · Authentication packages

• Restful building · URL routing

• Modular with integrated ORM

• Supports multiple applications

9. Slim

Slim is a light-weight micro framework that is typically used for developing RESTful APIs and services. Despite being minimalist in design, Slim is packed with rich features such as client-side HTTP caching, session and cookie routing, URL routing and support for flash messages across HTTP requests.

Advantages:

• Easy to learn

• 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

• Super user-friendly

10. PHPixie

PHPixie implements the HMVC design pattern. It's built using independent components. It’s easy to get started with PHPixie, which is suitable for social networking websites, customized web applications, and web app development services.

Advantages:

• Relatively new framework

• Easy to get started

• Documentation with code samples

• Impressive Routing System

• Ability to Compile fast

• HMVC Pattern-oriented

Conclusion

The great thing if you use PHP frameworks is you can make your development process much faster, easier and more fun. An excellent PHP framework is one that provides modularity, is scalable, has easy programming platform, higher efficiency, supports almost every database management system, error detection, and correction features, and has a big community for all-round development and support for developers. So, our best suggestion is to use only what you consider the most appropriate and easy to learn the framework for your project. Our list here only mention some of them, and there is still plenty of another framework out there.