Before I begin to share my thoughts on the top 5 best PHP Frameworks of 2024, I would like to tell you a bit about PHP. PHP happens to be one of the most liked & simple to use a server-side scripting language.
Talking about the PHP frameworks, they are developed to complement PHP. PHP frameworks complement PHP in many ways, some of which are:
- Provides pre-built modules
- Serves a platform for building robust & reusable components
- Enables faster development cycles
- Using libraries & tools provided by the framework results in rapid development
- Facilitates easy upgradations and maintenance of the developed applications
- Has an excellent community support
- Facilitates security features
So basically PHP frameworks cater to a basic structure to complement PHP in the above-listed ways. These frameworks enforce the developers to use coding standards and development guidelines hence giving importance to stabilizing the product and standardizing the process.
The most important feature of these best PHP frameworks 2024 is that they use Model View Controller (MVC) architecture. Where MVC allows independent development for each part, be it business logic, underlying data, or the presentation view.
So this helps to reduce complexity & facilitates developers with all the comfort to focus on their specific areas without affecting the development of other modules.
Such an independent division of the development procedure results in increased speed of the entire development procedure. Moreover, it improves the stability & quality of the final product.
Read Also: Best Machine Learning Tools & Frameworks for Mobiles
From a long list of PHP frameworks, I have chosen to discuss these 5 best open source frameworks of 2024.
Top 5 Best PHP Frameworks 2024
- LARAVEL
- CODEIGNITER
- CAKE PHP
- ZEND
- YII 2
We did some thorough analysis to know the state of the frameworks listed above. So it is not just about the most used framework but to know which one is most valuable.
According to our recent analysis on Google Trends, it can be clearly noticed that the Laravel framework stands out & stands above all the frameworks listed. Check out the image below:
GOOGLE TRENDS IMAGE
1. LARAVEL FRAMEWORK
As far as frameworks are concerned, Laravel Framework is the best PHP framework. Since 2015’s Sitepoint survey showed that Laravel framework has excellent documentation, robust features, and a growing support community which made Laravel a clear winner in the list of PHP frameworks.
Till now with the launch of the Laravel 5.5 framework Google Trends has witnessed an increase in Laravel search results across the globe.
Laravel Framework facilitates many specific packages such as the Blade Templating Engine, Artisan, eloquent ORM, Middleware, PHPUnit for Unit Testing, RESTful controllers & being the first one to introduce routing in an abstract way.
All because of these extensive features many companies started providing Laravel Development Services to grow their business.
One of the most important functionalities of Laravel is the way it handles NoSQL structures like MongoDB & more. It is easy & comfortable for any developer to get started with Laravel because of its excellent documentation.
If you are a developer who wishes to work with PHP then it is very useful to become a PHP Laravel developer.
Read Also: Best Responsive HTML5 Frameworks List 2024
2. CODEIGNITOR
CodeIgniter is known to be an easy yet powerful PHP framework for its flexibility & less complex installation. Since it has an easy learning curve, this framework is very useful for beginners to start with.
CodeIgniter is a lightweight & less complex framework that can be easily installed by uploading it directly to your hosting. Alike Laravel framework CodeIgnitor is also an ideal framework for rapid application development.
CodeIgniter’s full-fledged development of web applications is a breeze. CodeIgniter’s documentation is extensive & the community is also vast & helpful.
An academic entity named The British Columbia Institute of Technology backs up CodeIgnitor which ensures CodeIgniter’s continued development and growth.
Talking about the features, CodeIgniter comprises many built-in libraries for unit testing, email, sessions, and much more! In case if you can’t find a library that you want to use then it is easy to build your own, and later share it with the community for others can make use of it.
Read Also: Top Web Design Tools For 2024
3. CakePHP
Being one of the oldest frameworks, CakePHP retains its user base & is gradually but continuously growing. It also has an impressive portfolio comprising of big brands such as Express & BMW.
Alike CodeIgnitor, CakePHP is an ideal framework for beginners. It also supports the rapid development of commercial web apps.
It has built-in code generation with a scaffolding functionality to increase the speed of development & numerous packages to carry out general functionalities.
The configuration process of CakePHP is a breeze as it reduces the need for unwanted complicated files such as XML or YAML config files.
Faster builds are one of the main features along with the security features which include measures to prevent cyber-attacks.
Read Also: Best JavaScript Frameworks List 2024
4. ZEND
Zend Framework is prominently known for its go-to professional framework. It is commonly used for powerful enterprise-level applications. It is built with an extensive set of features such as security, extensibility in mind & performance.
Zend isn’t ideal for rapid application development as it was developed with a focus on enterprise applications hence it has an enterprise-driven nature with the support of numerous components such as feeds, forms, services, and more.
5. Yii 2
With the launch of Yii 2, it is considered one of the best PHP frameworks. This framework facilitates the development of any kind of web app. It is known for being fast & flexible.
Yii 2 is easy to install as it utilizes modern technologies & is backed up by an extensive set of features. Moreover, it supports high extensibility with great security & encourages testing.
The launch of the Yii 2.0 beta has started attracting developers with its new functionalities, features, changes, bug fixes & more.
Yii 2 supports PHP 5.3 and some of the functionalities have been inherited from Yii 1.1.
Read Also: 10 Tips to Keep in Mind When Designing Websites for Startups
In Conclusion
There are numerous reasons to choose a framework for the development of a web app or API, significantly because frameworks offer MVC architecture, built-in modules for developing robust web applications.
Frameworks facilitate reusability for common functionalities such as authentication, security, database handling, templating & more.
Although out of all the 5 best PHP frameworks 2024 we just discussed Laravel Framework comes at the top on our list for long-term support, size of the community, and the remaining frameworks manage to survive or stay at a stable level, where Phalcon is emerging gradually as it didn’t get the quick response as Laravel did.
One should always do proper research & analysis of each framework before taking a decision to use any of these frameworks for the next project. As a developer, it will be up to you to decide which one is the best fit for your project and or skill set.
You can be an expert developer or beginner; these are the top 5 PHP frameworks of 2024 to serve you with the best & comfortable development.
Nice article for best php framework 2018! Thanks for sharing!
Laravel is one of the best php frameworks to use in 2018. It has many amazing features than other php frameworks.
Yes, Laravel is the popular php framework in 2018.
Thanks for providing best php framework for beginners. Keep it up!
Thanks lucy for the feedback.