Best PHP Frameworks to Use in 2020

PHP is turning 25 this year. It’s an old-timer along with Java, C++, C#, and others. However, even now, when it comes to web development, you cannot but think of PHP first, along with JS, Python, HTML, and CSS, for sure.

PHP is a broadly used general-purpose scripting language that is particularly suited for web development. The number of sites using PHP in 2020 is estimated to be as high as 50,6% which means every second of all websites you come across use PHP however you slice it. Nevertheless, according to the TIOBE Index, the popularity of the PHP programming language has been ratcheting down since 2014.

To build credibility, every business warrants a secure online portal. According to the National Vulnerability Database report as of 2019, only 11% of vulnerabilities belonged to PHP. Yet, the language’s technical security flaws or those of its core libraries are considered to be not that frequent overall. Yet, Java and .NET Core can be unarguably better at dealing with security concerns.

Why PHP?

1. Popularity Means Wider Talent Pool. With over 5,5 million PHP developers worldwide, the demand for PHP development is obvious. There’re many ways of how to find and hire a PHP developer such as outstaffing services, dedicated platforms (Upwork, Guru, Freelancer, etc.), or contributing sites such as GitHub, social media, or developer blogs. Although a PHP developer is easier to find, albeit some of them may consequently have lower salaries.
2. Speed-Up Development. Comprising many built-in tools, libraries, and databases, web development using PHP consumes less time and effort. PHP provides the freedom of choosing a web server and an OS.
3. Easy Maintenance. PHP frameworks opt for code refactoring and promote DRY app development, which leads to less maintenance for the leaner codebase. MVC patterns also help to produce cleaner code.
4. Hard-Won Coding Practices. Over years, PHP has been polished by lots of developers, fixing, and continuous updates to get where it’s now. Such experience can’t but lead to cleaner and neater coding.
5. Vibrant Community. 25 is not simply a number, it’s about years of trust, dedicated teamwork, enthusiasm, and individual contribution. The fruits of such labor are an enormous PHP web development community, thorough documentation, code standards, to say a few things.

The Best PHP Frameworks: Do They Exist?

There’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution anywhere. Everything actually boils down to the ‘it-depends’ route. However, in the list below you’ll find some good PHP frameworks having not that steep learning curve, entailing good support and documentation as well as ease of grasping, vibrant community, and a lot more making your PHP web application development architecture scalable.

Laravel

‘No sweet without sweat’ ceases to exist once you use Laravel. At least, you’re supposed to according to the whole idea underpinning it. Since its first release in 2011, the Laravel framework has been developing exponentially now becoming the go-to framework for developers all over the world. It’s open-source and widely used for MVC web application development, ‘Fortune 500’ projects, and pet projects.

Features:

• end-user oriented meaning clarity and simplicity,
• high-tech security (encrypted codes, SQL statements, passwords, etc.),
• straightforward syntax and simple routing process,
• the existence of Laravel Vapor, Laravel Forge, Laravel Envoyer, Laracasts, etc.,
• perfect for advanced app development.

Cons:

• understanding of programming is required,
• lightweight which can get tedious once it has to do with large websites,
• legacy systems might be not easily transferred to Laravel.

Symfony

To use Symfony means to opt for harmony and tailored solutions. With over 200 million downloads monthly, Symfony is a leading framework used for PHP web application development and website building. Its philosophy is about the best development practices and app interoperability and standardization.

Features:

• matureness and commercial support,
• most PHP databases support (Oracle, Drizzle, MySQL, etc.),
• advanced functionality and unit testing,
• extended documentation and vibrant community,
• availability of some extra features (CMSs, packaged professional solutions such as eCommerce and CRM, etc.).

Cons:

• file parsing issues,
• not suitable for small-scale apps,
• lower performance for real-time load apps.

Laminas Project (Zend)

Formerly known as Zend, now this PHP framework took another step forward and prompted Laminas Project managed by Linux Foundation. Having an open-governance model allowing anyone to come and contribute to the project, Laminas is still being known as another leading framework to deliver top-notch solutions in such areas as healthcare, content-management, eCommerce, entertainment, and more.

Features:

• most used PHP framework by enterprises,
• open-source and API-centric,
• PHP-FIG standard oriented,
• in-built components to speed-up the development,
• detailed and easy-to-grasp documentation.

Cons:

• relatively new,
• lack of plugins to solve app development issues,
• steep learning curve.

Yii

‘Flexible yet pragmatic’. Yii (‘Yes It Is!’ or ‘simple and revolutionary’) framework first appeared in 2008 as a bid to fix some flaws in the PRADO framework. It has good security measures (XSS, CSRF, etc.) and works well with third-party code. Overall, if there’s a need to get the maximum functionality with less overhead, Yii is a nice match.

Features:

• suitable for large-scale apps (CMS, e-commerce, forums, RESTful web services, etc.),
• component-based architecture and CRUD generator via Gii,
• sophisticated cashing support,
• unit-testing based on Selenium and PHPUnit,
• many front-end operations support via AJAX.

Cons:

• steep learning curve once you’re a less experienced developer,
• lousy-drafted AJAX features,
• static methods dependence.

CodeIgniter

CodeIgniter framework is a powerful and robust tool used for high-level PHP web development and full-featured web applications. It’s elegant, fast, and easier to start using by someone alien to frameworks, OOP, and structuring larger applications. CodeIgniter is being used by both small and large businesses.

Features:

• easy on-boarding and smooth learning curve,
• smaller footprint and easy installation,
• strong security and encryption procedures and XSS filtering,
• providing longevity, wide support, and backward compatibility,
• hooks and class extension support.

Cons:

• a bit outdated compared to other frameworks,
• flexible yet tough to maintain,
• lack of libraries for unveiling new features.

PHP Updates

Nowadays, PHP 7 is still thought to be the most popular version of PHP. The most recent versions are PHP 7.3.23, PHP 7.4.11, and PHP 7.2.34 released on October 1, 2020. All PHP users are encouraged to upgrade to new versions.

Early on in September, the PHP team has also announced another testing release of PHP 8.0.0 Beta 4. Since it’s a new major version, it’ll unleash some of the critical changes alongside performance enhancements and new features such as the attributes, union types, JIT compiler, constructor property promotion, new mixed type, and more. However, this version is discouraged from being used in production.