The existence of frameworks is a boon to all developers as it contains basic programs using which software is built. We can’t ignore the fact about PHP when we are discussing frameworks. PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a quick, flexible, and most preferred scripting language specially executed for web development. Referring to a survey conducted by W3Tech, PHP is used by almost 78.9% of websites as a server-side programming language. To expedite your development, it provides ready-made components.
The latest version of PHP is 8.1, but coders still prefer to work on version 7.4 due to its extensive features and easiness. Using PHP in your sites helps handle dynamic content, session tracking, databases, and even building entire websites. With all these benefits, let’s look at the Best PHP Frameworks for Web Development that you could use.
- Laravel
Laravel, developed in 2011, is one of the finest, free, open-source, and prevalent PHP frameworks wherein you can create customizable web applications. It is well known because of its protected handling of intricate web applications. It delivers a vast ecosystem and facilitates development by reducing the complexity of sessions, queuing, routing, caching, and authentication. It has more than 21 built-in libraries, which makes the development of the web more simple. Because of Laravel, automating tasks which were done manually is quick.
Pfizer, Tour radar, and BBC are some businesses that use Laravel as their development language.
Features of Laravel:
- Scalable and Secure
- Functionality packages
- Email Integration system
- Highly active community
- Supports MVC architecture
- Symfony
Symfony, initiated in 2005, is a modular-based PHP framework suitable for large-scale corporate applications. Also, the most useful thing about Symfony is that within a click; deployment is done. Moreover, setup and configuration are also accessible. Being a vast PHP framework, it also holds extensive community support. Due to the vast availability of libraries and components, it is typically the first preference of developers. It permits integration with other vendor libraries, which is why Symfony should be the best choice if you want to develop flexible and feature-rich applications.
Famous Symfony projects are Drupal8, publish, eZ, and Open sky.
Features of Symfony:
- Building APIs and microservices is easy
- Reduces redundant coding
- Supports MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and SAP
- Uses Doctrine ORM for operating database
- Database-engine independent
- Laminas (Formerly Zend)
Designed in 2006, Laminas is an open-source and object-oriented PHP framework assisting developers to provide high-quality apps to business-oriented clients. It can be tailored as per your requirements and can blend with external libraries, unlike other frameworks. The primary purpose of using it is its security, pace, and performance. It comprises components and MVC, Mezzo, and API tools.
It has teamed with companies like IBM, Google, and Microsoft.
Features of Zend:
- Extendable because of inheritance and interfaces
- Session management, simple cloud API, and data encryption
- Expandable due to features like inheritance and interfaces
- Drag and drop editor, an online debugging tool
- Extensible and outstanding performance
- CodeIgniter
CodeIgniter, introduced in 2006, is another famous and lightweight PHP framework with the smallest footprints (file size of just 2MB, including documentation). It presents error handling and is ideal for developing dynamic websites. It proffers prebuilt modules that assist in creating reusable and robust components. The latest version of the framework is just 1.2MB in size.
Companies like Udemy, QuinStreet, Adobe, and Medical Guardian use CodeIgniter.
Features of CodeIgniter:
- Encryption steps
- Easy Security and Extendable
- Imperceptible PHP adoption struggle
- Easy to execute CRUD operations without using raw SQL
- Promotes quicker page loads
- CakePHP
CakePHP, introduced in 2005, is the most convenient and open-source framework following the MVC architecture. It has a set of libraries and elements that helps design commercial applications fast. Execution of CRUD operations is relatively effortless in this framework. It uses the CoC (Convention over Configuration) practice, illustrating the coding guidelines programmers need to follow.
The framework attracted earlier companies like MBW, Hyundai, and Express.
Features of CakePHP:
- SQL injection prevention
- Cross-site scripting (XSS)
- Cross-site request forgery (CSRF)
- Secure and Scalable
- Inbuilt ORM
- YII
Developed in 2008, Yii, which means “Yes, It is” in Chinese, is an easy, rapid, and component-based PHP framework with exceptional pace and performance, best for designing modern web applications. It is a strict object-oriented PHP framework and demands knowledge of all OOPS concepts. It offers a strong class code generator named Gii. It also complies with the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) concept, which makes it convenient for developing large-scale applications.
Brands that use YII are Deloitte and General Electric.
Features of YII:
- It can be integrated with AJAX and jQuery
- Extensible and efficient.
- Unit and functionality testing
- Layered caching support
- Encryption and authentication
- Phalcon
Released in the year 2012, Phalcon is a PHP full-stack framework that is flexible, quick, and whose development style is entirely based on C and C++. Its distinctiveness is that it is as fast as lightning, was written C, and comes with a C-extension. However, it has an extensive development option to develop flawless web apps. Asset management, universal autoloader, and caching are a few notable features of this framework.
34 organizations use the Phalcon framework for development, including Urban Sports Club, the Proshore, and Edureka.
Features of Phalcon:
- Code compilation
- MVC architecture
- VOLT template engines
- Supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite.
- Phalcon query language for writing queries and Phalcon transactions ensures data integrity.
- FuelPHP
Introduced in 2011, FuelPHP is a full-featured, flexible PHP framework with an HMVC (Hierarchical Model-View-Controller) structure. Using HMVC, there’s no need for identical content to display on multiple pages. Hence it consumes less time and less memory. With incredible community support, FuelPHP takes security measures seriously and provides 7 security features. It is the best alternative if you’re working on a project where safety is a substantial concern.
Companies using FuelPHP are Spookies, InventoryBase, and Amitum.
Features of FuelPHP:
- URL routing system
- Robust security feature
- RESTful implementation
- Own command-line utility
- CSRF and XSS filtering
- Pixie
Introduced in 2012, Pixie, a full-stack PHP framework also follows HMVC architecture. Using this, the programmers build highly optimized web applications. With outstanding active community support, upgradations are possible in Pixie, which adds new attributes to it, leading to high-performance products.
Companies using this framework include Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, and Google Kubernetes Engine.
Features of Pixie:
- Follows bundle system (reuse code)
- ORM (Object-Relational Mapping)
- MongoDB support
- Offers low coupling
- Slim
Developed in 2010, Slim is a simple yet powerful framework focusing on HTTP requests and responses. It is a lightweight micro-framework used for creating RESTful APIs and services. It has vast characteristics like session, URL routing, client-side HTTP caching, and cookie encryption—firms like E-commerce, HHEY, PathMotion, Directus, and WebbyLab.
Features of Slim:
- Extensible
- Easy to learn
- No third-party dependencies
- Dependency injection
- Error handling and debugging
Which PHP Framework Is Best for Beginners?
Beginners should stick to more straightforward and leaner frameworks that are simple to understand. Programmers can progress to more feature-rich frameworks once they’ve conquered these.
OVE is the best PHP framework for beginners because it is easy to use and understand. It makes use of the MVC architecture, is easy to install, comes with diverse instructions, and is simple to grasp for beginners who want to start creating web applications in PHP language.
