Best PHP Framework and PHP Web Development Advantages

Originally created by Rasmus Lerdorf, PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor is a general-purpose programming language designed for web applications development.  With well-organized modules, dynamic developer base, and quick time-to-market, The Main advantages of php is that it is the most popular languages empowering web applications development. Its consistently growing popularity and reliability can be determined by the fact that several reputed sites are based on PHP.  This is possible because PHP websites can be easily maintained, improved and updated from time to time. However, it is important to partner with a PHP development company to leverage latest updates and features of PHP. Additionally, since the PHP community is so active and vivacious, websites can use some of the best PHP framework to engineer ingenious websites.

Here is my list of php development tools and best PHP editor that have established a reputation of empowering web applications development process.

1. Server side scripting language like PHP, Ruby, Python, Java, .Net & Node.js
2. Database : MySql(RDBMS), NoSql(Dynamic Database)like MongoDB, DynamoDb

There are features and advantages that make PHP as one of the preferred options for the backend development process.

Advantages of PHP Development

Cross-platform

PHP is open source and cross-platform. As a result, allows operation across different operating systems. It works seamlessly on LINUX, UNIX and Windows operating systems, as well as interfaces effortlessly with Apache/MySQL.

Developer Community

Due to its consistently growing popularity, PHP provides a voluminous support in terms of references and guide on the net. It can provide one of the most robust support system in terms of developer communities supporting PHP, support groups, forums, and much more. This voluminous support makes support for PHP applications and maintenance robust.

Platform Diversity

PHP is no longer restricted to website application development. It has also developed in the mobile domain. Also, the language is used to build highly feature oriented and complex apps across different sections.

Scalability  

With multiple extensions, PHP offers the much needed option of scalability for organizations to meet the burgeoning requirements of growing user base.

What’s Your Choice: PHP-based Website or DIY Website Builder? 

Why is it recommended to use a PHP framework?

According to technologists, PHP is used by around 79% of websites from all across the world. As opposed to coding from scratch, the PHP frameworks have many good reasons to use them.

Faster development

PHP frameworks have their inbuilt libraries and tools and for this, the time required for development is also less. For example, you can easily use the CakePHP framework for quickly creating any skeleton code needed in your application as it has the bake command-line tool inbuilt into it. Many other PHP frameworks have unit libraries installed in them to make the process easier.

Need to write fewer codes

PHP frameworks have several functions built-in. This means you don’t have to write long original codes to get to your work.

Have libraries for common tasks

Many tasks which you need to perform as a developer within the web apps are similar. Form validation and CRUD operation are needed for any web application. In such a case, you can easily use the library codes for these tasks rather than writing your codes.

Good coding practices are followed

In general, the PHP frameworks follow good coding practices. The codes are divided neatly according to their functions. PHP frameworks force users to organize their tasks in a clean, neat, and maintainable way. The PHP frameworks also have their naming conventions which the users should follow.

Better teamwork

Many projects require the association of multiple developers. These projects can easily go in the wrong direction if the clarity is not maintained in documentation, design decisions, and code standards.

Using PHP frameworks sets clear rules for the project. Even if a developer is not acquainted with the project, it becomes effortless to quickly learn the roles of PHP frameworks and work collaboratively.

Best PHP Framework for Web Development

There are best PHP frameworks for 2019 which assist developers in building complex and secure web applications at much faster pace than ever before. PHP framework can help in building complex enterprise applications with varying difficulty level, application needs, and development time-frames.

• Flexibility
• Cost Effectiveness
• Ease of Development
• Help with faster acceleration to market 

Laravel

Originally developed by Taylor Otwell to build web applications with the model–view–controller (MVC) architectural pattern, Laravel is free, open-source PHP web framework. Whether you are a team of expert developers or a single developer, Laravel can keep all relevant stakeholders in sync with database agnostic migrations and schema builders.  

• Feature-rich ORM, painless routing, robust queue library, and simple authentication to offer the tools to build modern and maintainable PHP in order to deliver amazing applications.
• With Laravel get a delightful development experience such as local development environment with Vagrant an effective way to manage and provision Virtual Machines.
• Official Vagrant box, Laravel Homestead provides development environment which does not require installation of PHP, a web server, and any other server software on your local machine.
• Develop web apps with complex backend allowing customization to meet developer’s needs with MVC support and high level of security.

Lavarel was launched in June 2011 and its current version is 8 which is released in 2020. This framework used a templating engine which is called Blade. Packalyst is a collection of Leverage packages that has around 15000 packages installed in it which you can use for your projects. Leverage framework offers its users security features which include authentication, authorization, email verification, hashing, and password protection.

CodeIgniter

CodeIgniter is a high performance and Best PHP framework with a very small footprint. This framework is an ideal solution specifically for developers seeking simplicity. With a toolkit to create full-featured web applications, CodeIgniter 3 has a 2MB download, including the user guide.

• Framework with a small footprint offering simple solutions to overcome complexity.
• Clear and effective documentation.
• CodeIgniter User Guide contains tutorials and several “how to” guides, as well as reference documentation defining and outlining that components that form the framework.
• Built-in features to ensure high level of security protection against CSRF and XSS attacks.

CakePHP

Looking to hire PHP developers to build web applications faster, simpler while requiring less code? CakePHP is the right option. CakePHP is a modern framework with a flexible database access layer and scaffolding system to build both small and complex systems. This framework was launched in April 2005 and its current version is 4.1.1. It has minimal configuration and has its own inbuilt ROM. This framework is easy to use.

• Build prototypes with code generation and scaffolding features faster than before.
• Easily set database whenever you are ready without any need to complicated XML or YAML files.
• Licensed under the MIT license, CakePHP is a perfect option for Commercial applications.
• Built in features such as translations, database access, caching, validation, authentication, and much more.

Slim

A PHP micro-framework, Slim writes simple and robust web applications and APIs. It is an agile and stripped-down framework that was launched in September 2010. The code base of this framework is lean and it has no third-party dependencies. This framework is suitable for building small applications and APIs. 

• Fast and powerful router that maps route callbacks to specific HTTP request methods and URIs. It supports parameters and pattern matching.
• PSR-7 HTTP message implementation to inspect and manipulate HTTP message method, status, URI, headers, cookies, and body.
• Support dependency injection to control external tools. Use any Container-Interop container.

Yii

Yii is a fast, secure, and best PHP framework with great deal of flexibility and provides the maximum functionality with least overhead.  

• Several built-in tools to help write solid and secure code.
• Powerful APIs and code generation to write code in less time.

Symphony

Symphony is the standard foundation to build best PHP applications. It is a set of tools and a development methodology. It allows selecting from 50 stand-alone components which are a set of decoupled and reusable PHP libraries to build own applications.

• Fasten the development and maintenance of PHP web applications.
• Eliminates repetitive coding tasks and enjoy the power of controlling your code.
• Decoupled and reusable components to build robust PHP applications.
• Best practices, standardization and interoperability of applications.
• Dynamic Symfony Community containing a passionate group of more than 600,000 developers from 120 countries across the globe.
• Perfect choice for developing large-scale enterprise projects.
• Highly flexible option allowing integrating with large-scale projects.

Zend

With 379+ million installations, Zend Framework offers several professional PHP packages. 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.

• Scalable nature of framework comes across high-end and complex websites as it offers a myriad of configuration options.

Related Post: PHP vs Python

Phalcon

Phalcon is a PHP framework that is built for its speed. Phalcon is delivered as a web server extension. It is written in Zephir and C, although to continue with this framework no knowledge of C is needed. This framework is launched in 2012 and the current version which is used is 4.0.6.

Technical requirements needed for this framework

• PSR extension.
• PHP 7.2

Phalcon is a PHP framework that is built for its speed. It has a low level of architecture. Phalcon has a security extension and its security component helps with password hashing.

FuelPHP

It is a community-driven PHP framework and has over 300 contributors over its lifetime. FuelPHP was launched in 2011 and its current version is 1.8.2. The FuelPHP framework mainly uses MVC as its model but it also supports Hierarchical Model view controllers. It provides the users with better control and code organization. It has great modularity and is more extensible. This model is highly used as it encourages code reuse. This framework has its command line. The users and developers of this framework can use these codes to run their tasks and generate common components. This framework is lightweight.

Fat-free framework

The fat-free framework is another micro framework just like Slim. This framework tries to maintain a balance between its useful features, ease of use, speed, and simplicity. The framework was launched in 2009 and its current version is 3.7.2. The size of the codebase is only 65kb which makes it fast. Despite being lightweight, the framework has all the functionality needed by the users. It is very easy to learn about this fat-free framework. With this framework, you can build a Hello world app within minutes. This framework is modular and the users can use the parts they need to build their web pages. The fat-free framework does not keep adding any code by default which makes this framework easy to use.

Conclusion

The selection of framework or programming language entirely depends on business requirements, ease of learning, and technical expertise.   So go ahead and hire PHP developers based on long-term goals and market demands. Analyze, plan and decide on your requirement.