Are you dreaming of a working life filled with modern web development tools, frameworks, and practices? If so, it’s the perfect moment to cast an envious glance on these highly customizable PHP frameworks that allow you to deliver more versatile, eye-catching and flexible apps in a short period of time.

Speaking about me, my routine isn’t all that revolutionary, but it has some real fun as long as I get to play around a lot of diverse technologies. Now I happen to stumble upon several articles/posts written by those who haven’t used any of these frameworks out there and just say anecdotally. Thus, I would like to recommend you to take every piece of information you get on the internet with a grain of salt because anything claimed or predicted without any facts or figures is useless and crap.

The undermentioned PHP Frameworks happen to serve nearly every possible niche out there. However, I won’t dive into every feature in-depth as we’d be here all day long. That being said, here are some of the highlights summing up the “What” and “Whys.”

Let’s dive right in, shall we?

Do you know that which the two of a variety are of sought after skills that heats up this year? It is for PHP and Drupal developers! I mean nothing beats PHP when it comes to a framework that has been condemned to death not once but way more & managed to come back stronger like never before. In the present scenario, professionals can do everything you thought was only possible in dreams. Let me give you a quick gist on PHP frameworks that provide a basic structure to the web applications. These frameworks ensure rapid development and streamline the overall time required. In addition to this, the benefits offered by the framework do not stop here. So, what are you waiting for? Go beyond to building stable applications and reducing the amount of repetitive coding. Although, there is no hard and fast rule to decide on which type of framework to choose, but it’s always better to know specific considerations while selecting an ideal one.

#1 Requirement of Project

One of the most crucial thing before deciding upon a framework is to look down the demand of the project at hand. I mean if the requirement emphasizes on choosing plugins featured platforms, it is best to look upon Joomla, WordPress, or Drupal. No matter, how much they sound like pure content management systems, but all these years they seem to have evolved like never before as the exceptional platforms for developing websites. In case, if you are looking for something that features more of programming, PHP based frameworks like Zend, Cake PHP, CodeIgniter, becomes a must-have.

#2 The design

Over the span of a few years, there has been observed a rapid increase in the usage of MCV or model view controller design patterns especially in the field of web programming. As a web developer, it’s your core duty to analyze the scope of MCV with respect to the framework to be used. Let me explain you with an example of Zend; the framework has MVC so that professionals can easily modify their design anytime whereas Yii featuring a strict implementation of MVC doesn’t offer enough flexibility to modify designs.

#3 Security Check

With security growing all over the news, it becomes mandatory for everyone to conduct a watchful or thoughtful review to be precise, at every stage of development. Unfortunately, many of you fail to understand the importance of incorporating security in their present strategy and consider it as an afterthought. Being a developer, it is very crucial to consider this aspect and make sure to choose a PHP framework that stays adhered to prescribed guidelines. By doing this, you can at least keep your project away from the potential vulnerability issues. All I am saying is that if you are wise enough, you will surely recognize and ride across while those who ignore it will do so at their peril.

#4 Authentication

What-so-ever framework you end up choosing upon, just make sure it has a built-in authentication as well as authorization modules. In a layman’s language, this means it must feature authentication and authorization for a web page and has to be limited to a verified number of users only. There is a thin line difference between authentication and authorization; authentication is something were checking that someone is the same who they claim to be whereas authorization ensures the person that he or she has the permission to manipulate the resources.

#5 Performance Support

Last but certainly not the least, consider caching to improve your web application in terms of performance. I must say it is a time-saving process to store static data in the cache and serve the same when requested. Frameworks have to be efficient enough to handle cache to contribute to the effectively of the performance. Thus, the support for caching must be analyzed well to know how the access to caching mechanism has been provided by the framework that has been chosen.

Best PHP Framework to Select & Why?

Offering ready to use components, structured architecture, ensure separation of model, view, and control of MVC, etc. are some of the best reasons why these frameworks seem to have gained in less time. Say, for example, Laravel is considered as one of the leading PHP frameworks that deliver accessible and expressive powerful tools to develop both decadent and elegant apps at the same time. Whereas CodeIgniter, on the other hand, uses an MVC controller approach to provide basic to high-end application requirements. It may also interest you to know that it has no restrictive rules for coding.

Let’s take a quick glimpse of these intimidating PHP frameworks!

1. Symfony

Comprising of a large set of reusable components, the framework is in charge of taking PHP to the very next level. If you have a complex and large-scale project at hand, Symfony is the best option to take into account. Fuelled by its reusable and decoupled set of components, even Laravel utilizes some of Symfony’s components making it the most preferred choice in the development realm. Right from developing robust applications to testing, debugging and documenting projects, Symfony cover’s it all. You can control anything from configuring from the directory structure to foreign libraries enabling developers to customize anything. With the help of the framework, development and maintenance of several web apps can be speeded up by replacing repetitive coding tasks. The framework is best for those who:

• Want to develop a complex application
• Build their own framework from scratch
• Build specific features by using the micro framework for your project

2. CakePHP

Are you looking for a PHP framework that offers both easy configuration and code generation features both at once? If so, CakePHP sets your database up and provides easy access, validation, translations, caching, and authentication. Popularly known as an all-rounder framework, CakePHP takes good care of your requirements; this includes everything from the initial phase to the delivery of a web page.

Since its establishment in 2005, CakePHP has held the top slot in frameworks and attracted several big names like BMW, Hyundai, etc. If you are looking around for a framework to create web apps that need high-security levels as it contains in-built security features like input validation, SQL injection prevention, XSS (cross-site scripting) prevention among many others. Featuring a complete organizational structure to ensure your application is logical and consistent, the framework also gives inbuilt tools to protect against:

• SQL injection
• Validation
• Form tampering

In a layman’s language, it keeps your application secure.

3. Laravel

This one’s my favorite! Laravel development seems to be one of the most lucrative fields these days as more and more professionals are seen jumping on the bandwagon to cash. And it shows no signs of slowing down. Right from routing to authentication, caching or even sessions, the framework features elegant syntax and a bunch of accessible and expressive powerful tools to develop best possible apps across the globe. Powerful migration system, an inversion control container and highly integrated unit testing support are some of its best qualities that must be taken into account before developing anything. Laravel further comes with its own template engine which is called “Blade.” It allows you to write in plain PHP in templates and does not bring in any performance overheads to your application. You will be quite interested in knowing that it includes “Homestead” which is basically a packaged Vagrant box which lets you commence the development in a hassle-free environment.

Lastly, a dedicated website called Laracasts.com hosts hundreds of PHP video tutorials which are easily accessible at a minimal cost. Try it out!

4. Yii

Are you seeking around for a framework that is denotatively designed to work on an efficient basis with AJAX? Look no further than Yii. With powerful caching support, Yii gives high priority when it comes to security. Preventing from SQL injection and cross-site scripting, input validation, and output filtering becomes easy. In addition to this, the framework offers a clear distinction between logic and presentation and get to use the clean and reusable code as it follows the MVC pattern. Armed with several validators and widgets and supportive techniques, collecting form input is made both secure and straightforward by Yii.

Exceptional error handling, significant support to write and run unit tests and functional tests to categorization, filtration, and routing of log message to various locations, everything is offered by Yii. Lastly, data from other frameworks can be integrated into your Yii powered application as Yii is made to be compatible with third-party codes.

5. Zend

It has been more than a decade now, Zend came into existence in the web development realm. Counted among one of the most significant PHP frameworks of all time, several corporate bigwigs like BBC, Paribas, etc. are seen making a significant transformation. The robust PHP framework is packed with ample choice of configuration options, and hence it is not recommended for smaller projects, but it is good for complex ones. To be precise, Zend is an open source framework that can be easily extended, versatile and aided with a modular base that lets you take full advantage of building blocks along with other frameworks or applications. Some of the most interesting features offered by Zend framework 2 are:

• Cryptography coding tools
• A simple drag and drop editor
• Supports front-end technologies as well, debugging and connected wizard

And since it is quite complex to learn and execute, using Zend framework for small /medium sized projects or PHP beginners is a strict ‘NO.’ You can try Laravel development instead!

Websites Built-In PHP

There is no denying in the fact that a large chunk of websites are running on PHP framework- all because of its ease of development. A more significant shift of developers are seen leaning towards PHP. If you don’t trust me, you can check out all the latest forums, discussions, and blogs where you usually roam around for guidance or troubleshooting.

Apart from being an open source platform, you can also run PHP on Unix, Mac OSX, and Windows. Down below I would like to mention a few websites (most traffic generating ones) built in PHP and how they prove to be advantageous for the developers across the globe.

Facebook

Running on Microsoft IIS Server Solution, Facebook had a visitor’s count of 30.66 Billion just in six months. The security certificate is provided by DigiCert where all the website traffic seems to be redirected to an HTTPS/SSL version by default. Being the German division of Deutsche Post, DHL along with La Poste, UPS, and TNT provides package logistics service to the company.

As we all know that Facebook is considered as the biggest social network worldwide that allows its end users not just to create their profile but also share their photographs, videos, and thoughts with their friends and family. In fact, one of the best feature offered by the website is it’s “like button.” Lastly, the website enables several brands to address their fans directly, which is why marketers put a lot of effort into generating fans.

Wikipedia

I am pretty sure that much like me even you happen to stumble upon the website to accomplish different assignments. Encountered by 6.62 billion visitors in the short span, Wikipedia is a free, open content online encyclopedia where anyone can publish the information. Yes, anyone can be called as ‘Wikipedians.’

Technically speaking, the website makes use of Viewport Meta Tag which makes the data optimized for mobile content. HTML is the DOCTYPE, and its front-type is built using JavaScript which is a scripting language most often used for client-side web development.

To publish an article all you need to do is get yourself registered and make precise, authentic edits in the existing ones. After a while, you may get a chance to create a Wikipedia page of your own.

Yahoo

Another popular website built on PHP, Yahoo brings all the news that matters the most. With the help of the Apache server, the website is considered as one of the most popular web servers on the Internet more than a decade (since April 1996). Do you know what the latest JavaScript and CSS library of Yahoo is? YUI3.

As the name implies itself, it is a California-based, multinational technology company offering Yahoo Search, and the Yahoo web portal accompanied with a variety of services ranging from Yahoo News to Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Answers, and of course, how can we forget the widely used Yahoo Mail.

The company also provides advertising services, online mapping, and video sharing facilities. In addition to this, the company made its way into the social media sector especially after acquiring Tumblr in the year 2013.

WordPress

Effectively running on Nginx server, WordPress is highly managed by MailChimp SPF along with ZenDesk. It basically helps professionals to organize, prioritize and engage with others in support requests in the most straightforward manner. The Domain Name Server used is of WordPress itself, and SSL certificate provider is GoDaddy. Being rightly collaborated with WooCommerce, The power of advertising is managed by DoubleClick, which allows agencies, marketers, and publishers to come together to work and enables them to make a profit from their digital marketing investments.

WordPress allows users to create their blogs as well as a full-fledged website by using the highly flexible Content Management System of WordPress. Best of all, it’s completely free of cost!

Final Thoughts

In today’s business-centric world, it is an arduous task to pick the right PHP web development framework for your business, especially from the many available options. Choice of the right platform is like an asset for your brand where mere negligence or a wrong step can cause negative results.