PHP framework - which one.

53 replies
I'm looking to choose a php framework to speed up development time, and to improve the security of applications from the start.

But - at the end of the day I want to sell the applications I create and have them be easy for a user to install.

Can any php coders out there recommend a framework that allows this.

Thanks In advance.
#framework #php
  • Profile picture of the author Amirol
    I vote for Laravel or CakePHP
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  • Profile picture of the author wayfarer
    As much as I hate it, and generally dislike PHP frameworks in general, you're probably best going with a popular framework such as Codeigniter, if for no other reason than it has a large community.

    I believe, however that you should reconsider that this will make things easier to install. It won't! Having a framework adds a level of installation complexity, unless it is a platform that is widely used by non-technical users, like Wordpress (which is not a framework technically).

    Standalone applications are definitely easier to install for most folks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Money Coach
    Yes, I agree. I'm also using PHP Codeigniter framework and I'm very comfortable with it.
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    • Profile picture of the author huzoorbux
      People suggest good frameworks but in my opinion the best PHP framework for me is Yii I must say try it once you really enjoy.
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      • Profile picture of the author shahriyar
        Here is a few I like, Codeigniter, Zend Framework and for Template engine I prefer Smarty.
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      • Profile picture of the author Joe721
        Originally Posted by huzoorbux View Post

        People suggest good frameworks but in my opinion the best PHP framework for me is Yii I must say try it once you really enjoy.
        I have also been using YII recently after years of raw coding and find it fast, secure and not too much of a learning curve. Generally I prefer to work outside frameworks but this was a client requirement and I have to admit I am really enjoying it.

        I cannot however make comparisons with other frameworks, never having used one before.
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        • Profile picture of the author wpspamhammer
          Lithium framework. So simple, efficient, and not bloated.
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          • Profile picture of the author zannix
            My vote goes to Laravel and Yii (although you may want to wait until Yii2 comes out if you're going down that road)
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  • Profile picture of the author sautaja
    I switched from codeigniter to kohana a few years back because of it's lightweight. Just a matter of preferences though.
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  • Profile picture of the author kdavies
    I can't stand php frameworks. Even php template engines like smarty and tcl I think are a waste of time. Even wordpress's $wpdb class bugs the hell out of me. Programming is complex enough as it is. Why people would want to add additional levels of complexity is something I can't figure out.

    As for ease of installation 99% of the installation problems I find are server-related and have nothing to do the content of the actual script itself.
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    • Profile picture of the author dad2four
      I'm on your team. I see a ton of unnecessary complexity adding to all different methods of coding and like you I say no thanks.

      KISS Principal for me all the way.

      Originally Posted by kdavies View Post

      I can't stand php frameworks. Even php template engines like smarty and tcl I think are a waste of time. Even wordpress's class bugs the hell out of me. Programming is complex enough as it is. Why people would want to add additional levels of complexity is something I can't figure out.

      As for ease of installation 99% of the installation problems I find are server-related and have nothing to do the content of the actual script itself.
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      • Profile picture of the author TheCrazyCoder
        It is "ideology" war question!

        By my opinion best framework
        - is one which fit to your task
        - you have experience with
        - well documented
        - have free or paid support

        But at the of the day your personal preference are most valuable for this decision.
        A lot good people suggested you few - try them, get some experience. Then decide

        PS: you choose shouldn't be life time. Everything can be changed
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        • Profile picture of the author WebStatsO
          I love to use smarty cause its pretty useful for me but thats just me. Just use whatever your comfortable with be it lavarel, phalcon, symfony2, etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author kpmedia
      Originally Posted by kdavies View Post

      I can't stand php frameworks. E
      .... Why people would want to add additional levels of complexity is something I can't figure out.
      ^ This is my opinion as well.

      Same for WordPress "theme frameworks". It's more headache than anything else, adding needless complexity. StudioPress, for example, is a nightmare to customize.

      Indeed, KISS! (Keep it simple, stupid!)
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  • Profile picture of the author SteveSRS
    just remember a framework needs to help you save time.. if it doesn't you're using the wrong one.. and the answer might be use none at all...

    I find that using the most lightweight frameworks are best, for me a framework should force me to do proper OOP programming and provide some shortcuts on much used code like accounts, registration and such things..

    On smaller projects I don't use a framework because OOP isn't always best / fastest choice it all depends on project specs..
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    • Profile picture of the author kdavies
      I've only found OOP useful for multi-programmer projects. Sure, it hides complexity, but then adds a whole layer of it's own. Proof - java's functor class.
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    • Profile picture of the author heroecitadel
      Best i have on framework thrash.
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      • Profile picture of the author onsmith
        I recommend Laravel. CakePHP and CodeIgniter are popular too, but I expect Laravel to dominate the PHP framework market in the coming years.

        See Best PHP Frameworks for 2014 for some interesting survey data about this.
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  • Profile picture of the author RuiGomes
    Laravel is surely the way to go. The community is getting bigger by the day, it's the top voted PHP framework at Github.

    There is loads of material available for free and loads of paid material too.

    The IoC container that Laravel has is really powerful and versatile.
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    • Profile picture of the author burton247
      I've never used it but my vote goes to Laravel. I would stay away from CakePHP and CI. I don't really do PHP dev anymore so things may have changed (hopefully they have) but Cake and CI are fairly old. This is usually a good thing but they were built when PHP wasn't all that great, at least compared to now, i.e. PHP 4. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking PHP, it's advancing nicely still. Therefore, I'd stay away from the older engines due to the legacy code issue.

      As I have said, I've never used Laravel myself but I've heard some good things about it.
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  • Profile picture of the author wpbasit
    I have developed many websites using Codigniter and found it very easy and comfortable.
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  • Profile picture of the author x11joex11
    I use the SLIM php framework together with PHPActiveRecord for database control.
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  • Profile picture of the author hamiltonmascioli
    A lot of good frameworks mentioned above. This is more like "if the shoe fits, wear it". Finding a framework you are comfortable with will reap great rewards.
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  • Profile picture of the author jeffatrackaid
    When picking frameworks, I recommend you first look at commonly used tasks in your applications.

    For example, if you are developing for a high traffic site, built-in caching mechanisms for both the page level and database may be useful.

    What database will you be using and what range of database drivers does the framework support?

    Do you need to use templates, authentications etc?

    Create a list of must-have functional requirements as well as some nice-to-have requirements. Use this to guide your decision making.

    Lastly, don't forget to see if your IDE tool of choice works with the framework.
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  • Profile picture of the author Taraka
    I hate Codeigniter, and I have a guy who has created his own framework based on Zend for work automatization. In his solution he has worked out the way that even a novices php coder can put up a complicated web-shop in one day. And no many-day mess up with tables. If interested, PM me, I can find you his contacts
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  • Profile picture of the author eddieone
    I have a PHP5 framework that is open source. You can check it out, it's called Deepwater.
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  • Profile picture of the author tantykimi
    I've used Codeigniter in the past and that worked well. There are many others, but Codeigniter did the job for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author shekarsiri
    My vote goes to LARAVEL
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  • Profile picture of the author RDB85
    Codeigniter is dead in the water apparently they are no longer supporting it. Laravel seems to be very popular.
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    • Profile picture of the author minirich
      Originally Posted by RDB85 View Post

      Codeigniter is dead in the water apparently they are no longer supporting it. Laravel seems to be very popular.
      Funny thing though, they released a security update to 2.x. Version 2.2.0 was released on 6th May 2014.
      And in parallel they are developing version 3 on github.
      What is true is, that they are searching a new owner for the project.

      cheers
      Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author Sam Zachuth
    I started with CakePHP then moved to Laravel, which I like a lot. However, I still use them both.
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  • Profile picture of the author somanyemails
    Hi,

    I'de go with zend framework. Yes it is hard to get a grip on, but it's also comprehensive, full stack and backed by the php company Zend. That give you some reassurance that it won't go away soon, so learning it is a good investment. I'm loving v2, much better than v1 and I write big and small websites with it.

    Regards,

    Luis
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  • Profile picture of the author wondercoder
    I am using smarty framework and quite happy with its performance. I think its one of the good frameworks available for the php development sometimes I use symphony
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  • Profile picture of the author Daisyonta
    Zend Framework 2 is an open source framework for developing web applications and services using PHP 5.3+. Zend Framework 2 uses 100% object-oriented code and utilises most of the new features of PHP 5.3, namely namespaces, late static binding, lambda functions and closures.
    Zend Framework 2 evolved from Zend Framework 1, a successful PHP framework with over 15 million downloads.
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  • Profile picture of the author evilclown
    Laravel 4 is your most advanced and updated php framework using all the new toys php 5.3+ has to offer. DB::table(), Eloquent and the query builder is amazing.

    CakePHP, wait for the final new release; don't bother learning the 2.0. The new one Is a whole awesome cake!!!
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    • Profile picture of the author jason2009
      Originally Posted by evilclown View Post

      Laravel 4 is your most advanced and updated php framework using all the new toys php 5.3+ has to offer. DB::table(), Eloquent and the query builder is amazing.
      Just got with Laravel. Its really very good framework and easy to learn
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  • Profile picture of the author szaboomikierno
    Check out fat free PHP framework.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikea12
    I vote for laravel built an api for my app in one day, I am mostly writing javascript so using laravel made PHP easy and clean IMO. Either way good idea to use a framework, don't be naive.
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  • Profile picture of the author sudo rank
    Laravel, it's what we are moving onto in work and it's very good with decent documentation.

    Originally Posted by profitsforall View Post

    I'm looking to choose a php framework to speed up development time, and to improve the security of applications from the start.

    But - at the end of the day I want to sell the applications I create and have them be easy for a user to install.

    Can any php coders out there recommend a framework that allows this.

    Thanks In advance.
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  • Profile picture of the author zenichanin
    Probably Laravel
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  • Profile picture of the author nik2014
    i'm new for php.could anybody have good tutorials for beginners please post links..
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  • Profile picture of the author atlet
    Another vote for CakePHP!
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  • Profile picture of the author pdhana
    Hi,

    My sites are running using CODEIGNITER framework. LARAVEL and CAKEPHP also can be considered.

    Cheers
    Dhana
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnBrower
    Use following PHP framework:
    CodeIgniter.
    CakePHP.
    Symfony.
    Zend Framework 2.
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  • Profile picture of the author HelgeSverre
    I am a fan of Code Igniter, it's currently the most popular framework although Laravel is really getting popular as well( according to this Google trend), The documentation for CodeIgniter is extremely well made and easy to follow, although the table of contents is a little weird to get used to imo.

    I find myself being able to create websites way faster than if I were to use spaghetti-php or even something like Slim.

    In my opinion, CodeIgniter is where it's at, but take a look at Laravel as well and choose the one you like the most.
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    • Profile picture of the author rakhee123
      I work on different frameworks. But my count is for ZEND framework. It is easy to use and provide many features, which makes things easy for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author newtechnoworld
    I am personally using smarty frame work and quite happy with its performance but sometimes as per client requirement i use symphony but I think smarty is the best one in framework
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    • Profile picture of the author herryprothyer
      Banned
      [DELETED]
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      • Profile picture of the author datuts
        I vote for FuelPHP. Simple, efficient and easy to learn/use, unlike Cake and Laravel.
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  • Profile picture of the author ivantk
    Hi, I used Codeigniter for 2 very big projects and with some exceptions it is hanging pretty well.

    It is a fast platform and once you catch the logic, programming with it is a piece of cake. It is also well documented and there are tones of answers in Stackoverfollow.

    Well I had one so awful bug with it but I left someone else to fix it. It was a problem with sessions. Somehow the user logged out (loses session vars) when page is opened in a new tab. There were some other problems with storage of session data but I some configuration changes fixed it.

    With other words this is the only problematic part I found with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author vinaylahoti
    Submlime Text always ^_^
    Best feature is it's lite and easy to use + it will give you feeling of real programming ( notepad )
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  • Profile picture of the author kaufenpreis
    Banned
    Been working with CodeIgniter for 4 years. Always suited me well and I wrote some sparks for it. Always has been a nice quick framework to start with. Easy to use. Since CodeIgniter was not on going anymore, while PHP made some major steps, I came in touch with Laravel. Immediately fell in love with it and still love it to this date. A framework which works excellent and is very developer-friendly. In my daily job, we are migrating everything from CodeIgniter to Symfony. In my personal life I would pick Laravel, while in professional life I would pick symfony. Laravel is more developer friendly and makes it a breeze to develop against. Symfony gives me currently more trust in the fact that they have been proven themselves already for years. Of course, both contain their similarities by Laravel who is using Symfony parts.
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