Code Hangover » php http://blog.codehangover.com Go ahead, have another Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:49:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 PHP Framework Comparison http://blog.codehangover.com/php-framework-comparison/ http://blog.codehangover.com/php-framework-comparison/#comments Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:37:18 +0000 Welzie http://blog.codehangover.com/?p=61 dzone_url = "http://blog.codehangover.com/php-framework-comparison/";

Yes this is yet another PHP Framework comparison. A few months back I was trying to decide which PHP framework to use on a project. I wanted to use a currently popular framework because that way I would get the best support from the devoted contributors and users. Choosing a popular or active project is important when dealing with open source tools.

From my research I found that cakePHP, Zend Framework, and codeIgniter are currently the most popular PHP frameworks. Below are my notes and thoughts about of each framework.

Some of this will only make since if you are familiar with MVC frameworks, if you are not read this first http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-view-controller

cakePHP

http://cakephp.org/

Google results

  • 4.75 million (term: cakephp)

Books

Mailing List/Forum Activity

Pros

  • CoC type development
  • Has a scaffolding option that allows you to test your basic database and model design without having to create a single view.
  • Model relationship management. CakePHP has built in functionality to automatically load arrays of related model entities based on your model and database design. These are stored in model propeties named $belongsTo, $hasMany, and $belongsToAndHasMany. You can even control if cakePHP should load the related models, in case there is instance you don’t them.
  • Automated code creation with bake script. The bake script generates controller methods, models, and even views. You can then edit them to learn more about how to use cake correctly.
  • Focus is to keep the controllers light by having most of the functionality in the model or in something called a behavior which could be seen as a simple service layer

Cons

  • I find the layout of the actual cakephp.org site confusing. For example the main menu has two items that at first glance I have no idea what they mean Bakery and Forge.
  • Very array based. Which not really a bad thing most PHP frameworks and applications are array based. When possible I would rather use objects instead of arrays. Defined methods and properties can make coding a lot easier.

Notes

  • Can be used by a novice or veteran PHP developer. Very similar to CodeIgniter. Very different from ZendFramework.

Zend Framework

http://framework.zend.com/

Google results

  • 4.63 million google results – (term: “zend framework”)

Books

Mailing List/Forum Activity

Pros

  • requires PHP 5.1.4 or newer. To me this is a pro because it forces you to use PHP5 which is more object oriented. Some may see this as a con.
  • can pick and choose which features you want to use. A more open development path. Which is good for experienced developers.

Cons

  • Doesn’t seem to follow CoC as much as cakePHP or CI
    too much “just because” configuration.

Notes

  • More for a veteran PHP developer. Very different from CakePHP and
    CodeIgniter
    I would definitely buy a book to help evaluate this framework fully.

CodeIgniter

http://codeigniter.com/

Google results

  • 714k google results – (term: codeigniter)

Books

Mailing List/Forum Activity

Pros

  • the manual/tutorial is excellent
  • concise framework that allows u to get started very quickly

Cons

  • Did not come with .htaccess file (problem for people new to apache)
  • A lot of duplication in the controllers. A controller heavy framework

Notes

  • Can be used be a novice or veteran PHP developer. Very similar to CakePHP. Very different than Zend Framework.

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