PHP is an open-source, server-side scripting language for the development of web applications. It is also known as Hypertext Preprocessor. PHP is one of the programming languages which is developed with built-in web capabilities.
Over time, the complexity of websites has been increased. The task of web development is more tedious as developers have to start every time from scratch. Software frameworks thus help in getting a foundation to build an application.
PHP has many popular frameworks for the solution of these problems in web development. Before getting into the list of top PHP frameworks, let’s have one short introduction to PHP frameworks.
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What is PHP Framework? What are the Advantages of using PHP Frameworks?
PHP Frameworks provides a platform to create Web applications. It is the abstraction to provide generic functionality that could be changed by additional reusable user-written code in programming selectively. The frameworks make swift development a real thing. PHP frameworks give a basic structure to streamline the development of web applications.
PHP frameworks offer interesting benefits, such as:
- Minimal Code
- Libraries
- Fast Development
- Maintainability
- More efficient work with databases
- Cross-Platform & Stability
- CMS support
There is a good list of PHP frameworks. In this article, we are discussing 10 top PHP frameworks along with their pros and cons. It will help to choose the best PHP framework according to your requirements.
10 Top PHP Frameworks:
1. Laravel
Laravel was released in 2011, and it is one of the viral frameworks of PHP. It is an open-source PHP framework. Laravel simplifies the tasks like caching, routing, security and authentication.
Features:
- Laravel’s core functionality can be extended using add-ons.
- It has built-in functions for handling user management, caching, routing, and much more.
- Laravel can integrate with third-party libraries and platforms such as AWS.
- The framework has elegant syntax.
Pros:
- Laravel is used to make robust applications with complex server-side.
- It produces fast and secure web applications.
- Laravel allows customization of applications according to the developer’s requirement.
- The queue management is the best among all PHP frameworks.
Cons:
- There are no built-in interface generators.
- Laravel is a relatively new framework so that it can experience bugs.
2. Symfony
Symfony was developed back in 2005; it is one of the earliest PHP frameworks. It is also known as an extensive PHP MVC framework, and it follows all PHP standards.
Features:
- Symfony is capable of built-in testing functionalities.
- The platform has excellent documentation for easy learning.
- It shows flexibility for setting up individual components.
Pros:
- Symfony offers fast development as it contains reusable components and less memory consumption.
- Symfony is used for interoperability.
- The flexibility of the frameworks allows easy integration with other projects.
- It has built-in support for functional and acceptance tests.
Cons:
- Symfony is not for beginners; it is hard to understand.
- It uses resource-intensive ORM.
3. CodeIgniter
CodeIgniter is a lightweight framework. It offers easy installation along with minimal configuration prerequisites. It contains dedicated hosting platforms and is highly suited for dynamic websites.
Features:
- Symfony is capable of easy database handling.
- This framework allows the creation of own libraries, API’s ana packages as it is extendable.
- It contains form and data validation functionalities.
Pros:
- It offers easy error handling.
- CodeIgniter helps in creating scalable web applications.
- The framework has good documentation.
Cons:
- The updates of the framework are irregular.
- It is not a good choice for applications that demand high security.
4. Zend Framework
Zend is built on agile methodology. It is one object-oriented framework. Zend has components for the creation of web applications with better functionalities. It has extendable nature, thus allows to add functionalities according to their projects.
Features:
- Zend framework is based on agile methodology.
- This framework supports many input data types, and it is HTML5 compliant.
Pros:
- Zend contains ready solutions for different tasks.
- It has a big developer community and high-quality documentation.
- It has pretty good efficiency.
- It contains library components with high functionalities and lightweight.
Cons:
- Zend is complex enough to study thus takes a lot of time.
- It is unsuitable for rapid development.
- The performance of this framework is relatively slow.
5. CakePHP
CakePHP was developed in 2005. It is an open-source platform and still a very popular PHP framework despite being a decade-old. CakePHP is one of the up-to-date frameworks. It allows the development of simple but attractive applications with its expansible architecture.
Features:
- CakePHP contains a wide range of components.
- It uses CakePHP conventions to code faster and better.
- It includes class inheritance, fast builds, and validation.
Pros:
- CakePHP is quite easy to use and user-friendly for beginners.
- This framework offers additional security.
- The CakePHP is capable of testing all the points of one’s application.
Cons:
- The framework is a bit restrictive because of having conventions.
- CakePHP is not suitable for creative development.
6. Phalcon
Phalcon is a full-stack PHP framework. It was introduced in 2012 and was initially written in C and C++ languages. It is preferred because of C-extension because no pre-learning of C language before using it.
Features:
- Phalcon is one blazing fast framework.
- Phalcon contains many interesting features like caching, asset management, and universal autoloader.
- It consumes very low memory space.
Pros:
- Phalcon offers rich functionality, and it is suitable for high load.
- This framework provides high performance.
- The consumption of resources is very low.
- Phalcon is an easy to install and easy-to-use framework.
Cons:
- Phalcon is not a much popular framework.
- The C source code is a problem of the framework.
7. FuelPHP
FuelPHP is a flexible and extendable framework of PHP. The first version of the framework was introduced in 2014. The framework displays more than one page at a time as it supports both MVC and HMVC architecture. It is a security-focused framework.
Features:
- The framework has good complete support for HMVC.
- The command-line utility is unique in FuelPHP.
- FuelPHP is capable of delivering end-to-end web solutions.
Pros:
- The security features of the framework make it best for security demanding projects.
- FuelPHP consumes very little memory.
Cons:
- Developers need to learn fresh after every new version is released of the framework.
8. Slim
Slim is the best micro-framework of PHP for creating APIs. It is one simple yet powerful framework. It is best suited for small applications which do not require any full-stack framework. It has no third-party dependencies.
Features:
- Slim offers quite rich features like session and cookie encryption, URL routing, and much more.
- It is aimed at those developers who target to develop RESTful APIs and services.
Pros:
- It is pretty easy to learn and best for beginners.
- The friendly and easy documentation makes Slim good in active maintenance.
- Slim is best for simple and small web applications.
Cons:
- We can not use the Slim framework for large and complex projects.
- Dependency injection is quite weak for the framework.
9. Yii 2
Yii is a backend development framework. It was introduced in 2008, and it is an object-oriented framework. Yii 2 is used for large-scale website development. The lazy loading technique of this framework makes it faster than any other framework of PHP.
Features:
- It has security features like cookie tampering and SOL injection.
- The framework provides interoperability with other frameworks like Zend.
- The integration with JQuery and AJAX features is easy.
Pros:
- Yii 2 offers high performance with a lightweight framework.
- It creates websites and applications with good security.
- You can customize the default setup of the framework according to one’s needs.
Cons:
- Complex web applications can not be created with the framework.
- This framework needs the extra attention of the developer to minimize the errors.
10. Laminas
Laminas is an object-oriented framework. Laminas Projects focus on the components and functions that are needed only. The framework is MVC-based and allows to load of individual libraries.
Features:
- It uses a PHP object-oriented framework along with an MVC architecture.
- Integration of the project with external libraries is quite easy.
Pros:
- In Laminas, the re-usability of code is high due to its platform’s design.
- It has a component-based nature and focuses only on the required ones.
Cons:
- The framework is difficult to learn.
- It will be challenging if someone jumps from Laravel to Laminas projects.
Conclusion:
PHP frameworks are there to simplify the development process. In the article, we have covered 10 top PHP frameworks with their brief details. We can not decide on one best framework as the features of web development change with time very quickly. Moreover, the decision of one best PHP framework depends upon a developer’s preferences and project requirements.
