The PHP Frameworks We’re Using in 2020

“PHP” is a recursive acronym that stands for “Hypertext Pre-Processor”, and is one of the most popular open source server side scripting languages in the world. Customization and simplification are the two most striking features of PHP that makes the complex process of coding for the most powerful apps a dodle. In fact, PHP has been developed into some of the most efficient and desirable frameworks to be found anywhere, like Laravel and Symfony. Some of our favorite PHP frameworks are listed below.

Symfony

This framework has been in use since 2005. It is thus recognized as most reliable for developing web applications. Its origins as a PHP MVC framework ensures that it is covered by the high standards for all PHP web development application. Similar to Laravel, the most highly regarded of all PHP frameworks, some of the features are quite surprising. Components that are reusable and modular make for extremely fast development, which requires very little memory space. Its innate flexibility allows integration with other projects like Drupal. Interoperability is built in, so that software building blocks such as translation and forms management can be conveniently used by developers. But Symfony is not for beginners, and its complex security mechanism is meant only for experienced professionals. This is is only drawback, but it does create a limitation.

CodeIgniter

The Framework comes with pre-built modules, making coding very simple and quick. The simple set of libraries, the high speed, the ease of learning, and stability make this framework absolutely formidable.

CakePHP

This is a CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) framework, and great for beginners. Released in 2005, its expansible architecture makes very attractive indeed.

Laravel

The Laravel Framework is PHP’s most popular open source framework. Introduced in 2011, Laravel can be used to build the most sturdy web applications. This is because the most usual tasks like routing, caching, security, and authentication are made easy to incorporate and execute. Customization of apps to the developers requirements , such as security, data migration, and MVC architecture, comes easy in this Framework. Web applications secutity is high level, and this itself is the best recommendation to use Laravel . But Laravel is still a work in progress, and receives continuous support from its vast audience of developers, who are constantly updating Laravel for use by the community. All in all, this is probably the Best of the PHP Frameworks on offer in 2020.

Zend

The Zend is community oriented, and has an extended base with the community. High performance with super speed makes it a pleasure to use. Its library components are lightweight, and yet have tremendous functionality. Extreme malleability allows developers to create and customize their own apps for their specific needs. Special Zend components extend the choice of developers to improve functionality. Its object oriented framework is suitable for most developer’s needs.

Yii

The release of this Framework in 2008 signalled the incorporation and use of “lazy loading” technique, which ensured high speed loading. This feature was a sensation when released first, but now it has become an industry standard. Yii also has some striking advantages which make it stand out against its competitors. It is lightweight , and yet its performance is surprisingly fast and accurate. Security is one of the great features of Yii, and can protect webs from cookie tampering and SQL injection. Ecommerce projects and CMS forums are its specific area of application, and that is why it is popular. But it has one major drawback: complex web apps cannot be created with Yii. This has limited its application somewhat.

Slim

This PHP micro-Framework is one of the best for APIs. It is simple, easy to learn for beginners, and user-friendly.

PHPixie

The HVMC architecture ensures web apps with extremely powerful and high performance. Now around nine years old, it is still considered new. But its ease of application and the feature of independent components make it very attractive to developers.

FuelPHP

The special feature of this app to display more than one page at a time makes it a favorite of developers and this is because this framework supports both MVC and HMVC architecture. Constant updating is improving this framework continuously, such as the update in 2019.

Phalcon

Phalcon is a preferred Framework for developers who do not want to learn C programming language first. Instead, it is a C-extension language. It was written using C and Coo language. Released in 2012, it is a full stack framework. It is feature-rich, and includes caching, asset management and universal autoloader. Its use of minimal space allows it to operate at astounding speed. At the same time, it is really easy for even beginners to install and use.… Read The Rest

laravel php framework

What is Laravel?

Laravel is a PHP (Personal Home Page) based framework used mainly to create web-based applications using a wide range of significant and useful syntaxes. Taylor Otwell developed this framework as an attempt to introduce a more advanced alternative to build web applications than those which were available at that time. What added to the superiority of Laravel was the feature of built-in support for client authentication and authorization.

Laravel is an umbrella framework that encompasses a wide range of features and technologies like ASP.NET, MVC, Codelgniter, and many more. This framework is an open-source framework that can be easily accessed by users. It is not only time-saving but also eases the process of creating the entire concept of a website from scratch by providing a suitable framework according to the needs of the user.

Along with being cost-effective and time-saving, it also ensures the safety of your created web application. If one understands the basics of PHP as well as a certain amount of PHP scripting, the Laravel framework can significantly help you in creating and customizing your web-based application.

Important facts about Laravel

As mentioned above, Laravel is a necessary framework which a considerable amount of people make use of due to the various features and technologies associated with it. Before understanding the nitty-gritty of the structure, here are some essential facts about Laravel:

  • Laravel is a PHP-based web-framework developed by Taylor Otwell in July 2011.
  • It is one of the few open-source PHP frameworks easily accessible to the users.
  • The framework is entirely compliant with MVC i.e.; it follows the model-view-controller framework.
  • It is one of the most popular frameworks for web application development, introducing new features such as user authentication and authorization to the forefront.
  • The Laravel 6.0 version happens to be the newest version of the framework that was released on 3rd September 2019. The latest version contains features such as the Ignition error page, improved authorization responses, job middleware, and many more.

Noteworthy features of Laravel

Laravel has been improvising and updating itself quite rapidly in the last few years, introducing unique and game-changing features to the forefront. Due to these continuous and dad-to-day updated and features, Laravel is getting more powerful and is getting more and more popular among the users. Here are a few noteworthy features of Laravel which make it different and unique:

  • Tool Integration– At times, the performance of a site is significantly hampered by the various functionalities and features that it incorporates. It can, after that, affect the most critical element of any web-app i.e., speed. Laravel provides the unconventional support of popular cache backends such as Redis and Memcached to ease the process of enhancing the speed of your application. Hence, integration, along with caching, can considerably help in improving the speed and efficiency of your use.
  • Blade Templating Engine – The .blade.php file extension helps Laravel web-developers to change, customize, or revamp the entire layout of the web page without facing any hassles. The extension helps in enhancing the webpage by enabling the user to add different designs, re-use or split templates, developing the code with just a few characters as well as organizing the file system in a hierarchical, logical and systematic way, as per the requirements of the user.
  • High-Security Migration System– Web-application developers are at constant risk of facing multiple cyber attacks daily. Development of a web-application and security vulnerabilities are two factors that are connected. These security vulnerabilities may include SQL (structured query language) injection, cross-site scripting, cross-site request forgery, etc. Laravel deals with such security breaches within its framework by using encrypted SQL to prevent any SQL injection and ensures to create an encrypted password rather than saving a password with plain-text. It further enhances the security system of Laravel.
  • PHP Unit Testing – Verification and testing of a web-application are considered to be essential steps in the development process. It ensures that the application does not contain any errors, glitches, bugs, etc. Laravel provides unit testing with a file extension phpunit.xml to the users to help them remove any errors adhering to the initial application requirements.
laravel dashboard
Laravel Dashboard Example

Reasons responsible for the popularity of Laravel

As mentioned above, Laravel has gained tremendous popularity in recent times owing to the various updates, features, and useful functionalities that it incorporates. Some of the reasons for its popularity are cited below:

  • The Laravel framework is easily accessible and time saving by enabling the users to hundreds of lines of codes within a few minutes with the help of tools provided by the web application developer.
  • It contains efficient security systems to battle any security vulnerabilities like SQL injection by creating encrypted passwords rather than using passwords in plain text.
  • Unit testing is included in the Laravel framework, which helps the users in removing any bugs, errors, or glitches present in the application.
  • The framework also contains a blade templating system to enable the user to write codes with the help of predefined templates provided by this feature. This addition eases the overall process of developing a web-based application.
  • Laravel contains a variety of tools, libraries, and templates which makes the life of web-developers stress-free and straightforward. Due to the rapid introduction of updates and features, the framework successfully fulfills the requirements of the users, which significantly adds to the popularity of Laravel.

The Takeaway

Laravel has gained a tremendous amount of popularity and recognition in the last few years in the web developing industry. The framework is continually evolving and introducing new features, tools, and functionalities to ease the process of web application development. The framework is easy-to-use for people who have a good understanding of PHP. Besides, the framework is time-saving, easily accessible, and an open-source for everyone to use.

Laravel provides features such as high-security systems, unit testing, robust authorization, blade templating engine, tool integration, and many more to help users develop a glitch-free and errorless application. It has revolutionized the field of web-application development by providing in-built templates and tools to write hundreds of lines of codes within just a few minutes. All these features contribute significantly to the success of the Laravel framework.… Read The Rest