This document provides an overview of various PHP web frameworks. It categorizes frameworks as Legacy (Zend, CakePHP, CodeIgniter), Next Generation (Symfony, Silex, Laravel), CMS (WordPress, Drupal), and Up and Comers (Phalcon, Yolo). For each framework, it briefly describes its key characteristics like community size, architecture, and features. The document aims to help people understand the different options available for PHP web development.

2. Who Am I?
Adam Englander
adamenglander@yahoo.com
@adam_englander
http://adamknowsstuff.com
https://github.com/derptest
• DirectEdge Brands Director
of Software Development
• Coupla CTO
• Founder/Organizer of Las
Vegas PHP Users Group
• Co-Organizer of Las Vegas
Developers Users Group
• #VegasTech Enthusiast

3. Overview
In this presentation we will briefly touch on
a variety of PHP Web Frameworks. They
come in three categories:
 Legacy
 Next Generation
 CMS
 Up and Comers

4. Legacy Frameworks
 Zend Framework
 Cake PHP
 Code Igniter
These frameworks are not heavily object
oriented. Zend and Cake have large
installed bases and large communities.
Progress is slow.

5. Zend Framework
 Oldest large framework left
 Mostly a collection of libraries that are
poorly coupled
 Sponsored by “The PHP company”
 Large community
 Large installed base

6. Cake PHP
 True complete framework
 Provides tightly coupled components
 Has a number of code generators to
help speed up development
 Large community
 Mostly modular
 Many modules available
 Trying to transition to a modern
framework

7. Code Igniter
 Simple framework
 Barely object based
 Very little installed base remains
 Only had on release in the last year
 Poorly documented

8. Next Generation
Frameworks
 Symfony
 Silex
 Laravel
Modularized and heavily object oriented.
All use dependency injection containers.

9. Symfony
 Core components used in all next
generation frameworks as well as CMS
platforms
 Highly modular for drop in functionality
 Spring based DIC
 Supports multiple ORMs
 Corporate sponsor
 Avid community

10. Silex
 Symfony components
 Easy to stand up quickly
 Somewhat middleware based
 Can get confusing with larger
applications
 Fairly large number of pluggable
components
 Simple callback based DIC

11. Laravel
 Symfony component based
 Full stack MVC
 Modularized for larger applications
 Easy message queue based integration
 ORM supports multiple RDMBS and
NoSQL databases
 Active user base
 Corporate sponsorship

12. CMS
 WordPress
 Drupal
PHP CMS systems drive a large amount of
the internet and can be very useful if you
need mostly content and few additional
features.

13. WordPress
 Extensible CMS system
 Huge install base
 Large community
 Easy to start up
 Highly extensible within the framework
 Must extend within the framework
 Old school implementation and modules

14. Drupal
 Symfony components
 Complex Symfony DIC
 Highly extensible
 Highly customizable
 Large community
 Many modules available in the
community
 Can get out of hand

15. Up and Comers
 Phalcon
 Yolo
Up and comers are newer frameworks that
show promise but have not been widely
adopted.

16. Phalcon
 Inner working code is C
 Very fast
 Very specific
 Can be limiting

17. Yolo
 Middleware based framework
 Symfony components
 As simple or complex as you like
 A great alternative to writing your own
framework without being constricted
within a larger framework.