22 Open Source PHP Frameworks To Shorten Your Development Time

Jun 23rd, 09 by Dicky | 48 Comments |
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PHP is a widely used programming language for web development. Although there are a lot of alternative programming languages for web development such as ASP and Ruby, but PHP is still the most popular among them.

So, what makes PHP so popular? PHP is so popular because it is relatively easy to learn compare to other language. Furthermore, there are a lot of great tutorials for beginner to get started. Although there are a lot of resources for us, but coding a site from scratch is very tough. Luckily, there are a lot of reliable PHP Framework which can shorten the development time. These frameworks are supported by huge community and they are willing to help if you face any problems.

Without talking much, let’s start to look into these 22 open source PHP frameworks:

Most Promising Frameworks

1. Zend Framework

zend-framework
Zend Framework is an object oriented framework written in PHP 5. It is based on simplicity, corporate friendly license, and a rigorously tested agile codebase. The loosely coupled architecture also allow developers to use Zend components within other framework.

2. Symfony

symfony
Symfony is a PHP 5 framework which provides an architecture, components and tools for developers to build complex web applications faster. The official site provides a practical tutorial for Symfony beginner too.

3. CodeIgniter

codeigniter
CodeIgniter is another popular PHP framework. It has the advantage of having a wiki for easier navigation. New users can get started easily by referring to its documentation. It supports PHP4, which makes it can’t take full advantage of PHP5.

4. CakePHP

cakephp
Using commonly known design patterns like MVC  and ORM  within the convention over configuration paradigm, CakePHP reduces development costs and helps developers write less code.

5. Prado

prado

Prado require PHP5 and above to run, and it is a component-based and event-driven programming framework for developing Web applications. There is a quick start tutorial for beginner too.

6. Kohana

kohana
Kohana is a PHP 5 framework that uses the Model View Controller architectural pattern. It aims to be secure, lightweight, and easy to use. Kohana is originally based on CodeIgniter, but it is strict PHP5 OOP, which i think is more suitable to use in building new and large scale projects.

7. Solar Framework

solar
Solar is a PHP 5 framework for web application development. It is fully name-spaced and uses enterprise application design patterns, with built-in support for localization and configuration at all levels.

8. Fuse

fuse
FUSE is a Model View Controller framework for PHP. Taking influence from other web frameworks such as Ruby on Rails and CakePHP, then adding in custom, intuitive features of our own design, FUSE has developed into a robust, stable platform for MVC development using object oriented PHP.

9. Yii PHP Framework

yii
Yii is a high-performance component-based PHP framework best for developing large-scale Web applications. It has a full stack of features and written in strict OOP(require PHP5 and above).

10. Akelos PHP Framework

akelos
The Akelos PHP Framework is a web application development platform based on the MVC (Model View Controller) design pattern.

Other alternative PHP frameworks

11. Recess
12. Agavi
13. Qcodo
14. Zoop
15. QPHP
16. Seagull PHP
17. PHPDevShell
18. PHPOpenBiz
19. WASP
20. evoCore
21. Lion
22. Flow3

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Comments

  1. Sarah says:

    Pretty cool post. I just came by your site and wanted to say
    that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. Anyway
    I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

  2. Bariski says:

    This will surely come in handy, thanks for sharing.

  3. Why not show MODx CMS, is the most effective I know…

    • dicky says:

      Hi Daniel,
      As i know, MODx is a content management framework, while this list is all about PHP framework.

      Anyway, thanks for your input and you had gave me an idea for my future post. :)

  4. Sean says:

    Yii at the bottom? Is that a joke? Yii needs to be #1 or 2. I’ve dabbled with CakePHP and CodeIgniter, but Yii blows them both away with an amazing balance of speed, simplicity, and functionality. Not to mention asking questions on the forum usually means the framework creator will answer them himself :) I’m this impressed, and I’ve only been working with it for a week….

  5. First I start using Code Igniter, but now I mainly use Kohana for my projects!

  6. tintedPixel says:

    Nice list,

    There are a lot of good frameworks out there. One thing that might help this article is an authors review of each framework. Not all frameworks are created equal, some are open/closed, some perform better than others and so on.

    We work regularly with Cake, CI, Kohana and Zend, my personal fav is kohana with CI running a close second.

    Does anyone else have reviews/experience with the others?

  7. leandro says:

    i dont think php4 support is not a complete drawback.
    we still have php4 in our prod boxes and codeigniter saved us a lot of time.

    Besides its code really kicks ass

  8. magic_code says:

    Two quick observations based on experience:

    1. CodeIgniter: While a good framework, lacks built-in authentication. I know there are authentication libraries coded by others but depending on their reliability and then integrating it throughout your code is a hazard for corporate development.

    2. Kohana: The decision of their developers to NOT support any previous versions again goes against a lot of corporate development practices. Furthermore, if you read a fair deal of their forum posts, you’ll notice the core members can be quite rude responding to some questions.

  9. I can vouch for the Yii framework. A new and already powerful framework. I’ve tried them all and Yii fits me perfectly.

    I developed the following sites with Yii:

    http://blocsonic.com
    http://nvzion.com
    http://milkware.com

  10. Brian says:

    A coworker of mine is the author of the Madeam PHP framework (http://madeam.com/), recently featured in PHP Architect magazine. Check it out!

  11. pROCKrammer says:

    Cool, CakePHP is the best one

  12. Wouter says:

    Never tried yii

    Looked at Cake, CI and Kohana – choose the latter, Kohana is awesome

  13. JaYRuleZ says:

    I’m impressed with Yii Framework http://yiiframework.com and I-Framework http://if.4kiki.net

  14. Custom PHP says:

    You say “there are a lot of reliable PHP Framework which can shorten the development time.”.

    This is probably true however there is a learning curve.

    Once one gets familiar with the framework their development time will definitely shorten.

  15. Jaspal Singh says:

    I’ll prefer small & simple CodeIgniter. Thanks for sharing.

  16. @dicky MODx is an PHP Application Framework too.

    visit: http://modxcms.com

    ;)

  17. daniel says:

    CodeIgniter is the most easy to implement and portable, but lacks of file naming convention. Zend and CakePHP are complicated.

    anyway, good list, thanks for sharing

    have a look at http://www.dijexi.com/category/codeigniter

  18. gabor says:

    Used Kohana, Code Igniter, CakePHP and Zend. I think Kohana is the most elegant framework. To me the other frameworks just introduce too much overhead. But I think this depends on your business requirements.

  19. CakePHP and Kohna is great framework for PHP.

  20. Kleebised says:

    if someone wants to learn php – should he start with learning the framework such as Kohana right away -

    or “regular” php needs to be learned first and then start looking at the frameworks

  21. Sava says:

    I’ve been using CakePHP a lot at work and I’m really happy with it. I managed to create a full working website (dating website) in only 2 days

  22. Abe@DevCom says:

    It seems that i am only one that talk to PRADO. i like coding and architect of PRADO.
    But after reading these comment i won’t sleep, i will try KoHaNa and CakePHP.

    Many ideas from many experiences.

  23. saadnib says:

    i m new to the web development…..i m trying PHP and i got a good knowledge abt PHP frameworks form here thanks for this posting…..keep it !

  24. waqas says:

    and the best of that are Zend, CakePHP and CodeIgniter.

  25. Dominic says:

    You might want to look at F3::PHP Fat-Free Framework at:

    http://fatfree.sourceforge.net

    Lightweight, minimalist syntax but very powerful. Even has a template engine, CAPTCHA, SQL and forms handlers, etc. All in a single file.

  26. Dominic Xavio says:

    You might want to check PHP Fat-Free Framework at http://fatfree.sourceforge.net

    Minimalist yet captures the essence of MVC architecture. Got its own template engine and SQL handler. Very promising.

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