Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) is an HTML embedded server-side scripting language, mainly used for website development. Though people prefer it for developing simple applications, it still has a wider area of application, including complex projects wherein C or Java are usually preferred. This means PHP is an object-oriented as well as procedural language. The most interesting fact about PHP is that it has become so popular that around 80% of websites are implementing PHP as their server-side scripting language today.

We will take you through some of the most popular sites that use PHP at some point or the other:

  • WordPress
  • Wikipedia
  • Yahoo
  • Facebook (uses customized PHP)
  • Flickr

As we were researching on the popularity of PHP across the web, we came across certain interesting facts that we would like to share with you before taking you through the future of PHP frameworks:

Multithreading

As developers, we all have a special liking for programming languages that can provide multithreading. One of the interesting benefits of multithreading is that it helps to save a lot of time.

Confusing

If you are a regular user of PHP language, then you would be aware of the fact that it is a loosely typed language. You need not define the variables as a data type, which again makes it confusing.

Community support

The community support offered by PHP community is weak. Also, there is always a delay in the release of new versions of PHP.

Though we waited for a long time until the release of PHP 7, it is considered to be better than PHP 5 as it is faster and provides a lot more features.

Safety and Security

Some people say that PHP is insecure, which could include any of the following threats:

Cross-server scripting (XSS)

SQL injectionCross-site request forgery (CSRF)

Session hijacking

Source code revelation

Also, since it is not a compiled language, it comes with a number of security threats.

Though PHP can be used for applications otherwise powered by Java or C, still they say that the complex structure of the files and directory management make it difficult to use PHP with complex apps.

But still there are developers who continue using PHP. Thanks to PHP 7 that was recently launched and came with some of the following features:

  • Anonymous classes
  • Add-on operators
  • Data type declaration
  • New operations
  • The return type declaration of the functions

People who have already used PHP 7 say that it is way far better than PHP 5 as it is speeder and secure. But, still some fear the migration from PHP 5 to PHP 7 as it needs the elimination of some of the deprecated parameters, which is not hassle free.

Let us forget all the myths and controversies revolving this programming language as it can be counted among one of the most preferred server-side programming languages that are used today. We have handpicked some of the most interesting PHP frameworks that would actually be used in this year and going forward over years to come.

These are among those PHP frameworks that help in creating web apps that perform faster and are complex and secure. As you might be aware, PHP frameworks come in a variety of size and shape. But all of them aim to provide their developers with a great deal of enhanced experience, hosting capabilities, app needs and reduced development time frames.

We will take you through some of the reasons why a developer wants to choose a PHP framework:

  • Well-formatted structure
  • Efficiency
  • Fast tracking
  • Enhanced APIs
  • Write-once and use everywhere code feature
  • Secure authentication
  • Easier database management
  • Easier template and URL-handling

We will take you through some of the PHP frameworks that are trending now and give you reasons on why they should be your choice. We have chosen more than 9 of these frameworks with different features. From these, you can choose the one that fits into your needs.

Laravel

laravel

Laravel is a common name among PHP lovers and hence it tops our list of PHP frameworks. This all-inclusive framework has been designed to help build apps that are brisk and can be incorporated within the MVC architecture. This popular PHP framework is supported by a huge community of developers, which is one of the plus points of choosing Laravel.

Some of the features of Laravel include unit testing, Restful controllers, blade templating engine (i.e., lightweight) and ORM. It helps in sorting out the tedious task of code arrangement, all thanks to its routing facility that works in an abstract way. Another interesting fact about Laravel is queue management that helps in task management, which happens in the background while it logs on the activities for the developer. During this time, all your tasks are executed in the frontend. You can easily integrate packages within the robust composer that is inbuilt within Laravel. Since it can be integrated with ease into Elixir or Gulp, any of the npm and bower packages can be called directed through ssh.

Laravel is popular for its noSQL structures that include MongoDB and even Redis. Even if you are a beginner, Laravel is easy to learn and get started with.

 Phalcon

Phalcon

This MVC-based PHP framework has been built upon C-extension. This architecture implies that it is fast than other versions. Compared with the other frameworks, Phalcon works with a very few resources. All these can be translated into HTTP requests instantly and this is really important for developers who are working on systems that do not provide much overhead.

Phalcon includes ORM, caching, auto-loading components and MVC as well. One of its long-term support comprises PHP 7. Phalcon combines the data storage tools for developers and this includes object document mapping for MongoDB. When building performance REST APIs and other full-fledged web apps, this is the best choice.

Cakephp

Cake PHP

This framework, Cakephp, is the best choice for beginners. It also helps in developing brisk commercial web apps. It also provides scaffolding functionality and code generation, which helps in speeding up the development process. The other functionalities that come with it makes it even more efficient as a programming language.

The MVC conventions built into this are ideal for the development process further. Another interesting aspect is configuration which is made easier as it removes the complexity of XML or YAML config files. It provides an easy and fast app development. The security features are even stronger, which includes XSS, CSRF, SQL Injection and more tools.

CakePHP comes with a lot of community support, good documentation and is constantly under development.

Symfony

symphony

Symfony is being praised and appreciated by many PHP lovers for the excellent performance, documentation, stability and modular project facilities that it offers. The French SensioLabs powers Symfony. They have also contributed a lot to its development and gets a lot of support from its community as well.

Several open source projects including eZpublish and Drupal implement it. Also, big names such as the BBC are using Symfony. Stability was the main objective behind introducing Symfony. The community support is unbelievably wide. The documentation is really extensive.

Fuel PHP

This sophisticated and extensible MVC framework from PHP is modular, extensible and excellent. Some of its features include ORM support, security enhancements, authentication framework, template parsing, lightweight and packages that can incorporate around 21 developer capabilities. Since it has a highly developed and supportive community, FuelPHP is best. Fuel PHP is popular for its object orientedness, allowing the installation of framework using composer.

 Fat free

Fat free

Fat free, a modular PHP micro framework comes with tons of packages. This can be encapsulated within a fully fledged PHP framework (including Laravel) and a micro framework. This comes power packed with a number of features, including data validation, CSS compression, unit testing, image processing, Open ID and much more. Also, it has enhanced support from NoSQL and SQL databases, thereby helping with the development of multilingual web apps, further easy.

It is named as fat free because it provides the easy development of web apps.

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 Slim Framework

This is a very minimal micro framework that was inspired from Sinata from Ruby. This can be implemented for developing lightweight Restful APIs. Some of the add-ons include URL handling and routing, HTTP caching and the built standard that it comes with. It has been actively maintained and is extensive. Also, it comes with friendly documentation and all this contributes to Slim Framework.

CodeIgniter

CodeIgniter

For brisk application development, choose Codeigniter framework. This lightweight framework doesn’t create much hassles as it can be easily installed by uploading it straightaway through hosting. You don’t need any special or unique software installation or command line for getting it up. You can directly upload your files and the platform is ready. The extensive libraries that comes with it helps in powering web apps. The documentations are extensive and we have support from a wide and vast community. Also CodeIgniter has support from academic entities, such as The British Columbia Institute of Technology helping further in advance development and continuous growth.Some of the built-in libraries that it comes with include form validation, email sessions, unit testing and more.

Zend Framework

This popular and go-to framework is one of the most commonly used frameworks well-known for its high-level performance, which powers enterprise-level apps. The security, extensibility and performance that Zend offers is unbeatable. It provides a great deal of focus on enterprise apps – and comes with a number of components, which offers authentication, services, feed and forms services. The enterprise-driven nature of Zend helps in brisk app development.

Phpixie

PHpixie

This relatively new framework from PHP has been designed in a modularized way. It is lightweight and compiles fast. This is compiled with a number of tools that provide a features such as security, cryptography, MongoDB support and code sharing features for composer.



Monday, October 1, 2018







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