Laravel for Entrepreneurs One thing all successful entrepreneurs understand about the modern world of business is that if you don’t have a vibrant web presence, your company is unlikely to succeed. Tools like Laravel allow developers and entrepreneurs to create dynamic websites such as the one seen here, quickly and inexpensively. Laravel and other framework tools (i.e. CodeIgniter and Magento) are a great resource for any entrepreneur looking to cut site development costs, without cutting quality. By reusing general bits of code and low-level modules, PHP frameworks let developers build sites within a fraction of the time it takes to build non-framework sites. For CodeIgniter, CakePHP, Laravel and Symfony development companies this is a great time to be in the biz! Even more important: it creates a unifying structure for your entire site. While this is entirely possible without a framework, using Zend or Laravel ensures that your site is uniformly built using the same logic throughout. Finally, using a framework makes it phenomenally simpler to grow your website without issues. There are many frameworks out there and they all have disadvantages and advantages. Laravel Currently the sweetheart of nearly every developer, Laravel is exceptionally useful for very large and complicated projects. As one of the most powerful frameworks out there, Laravel has a lot to it. As such, the various features and functions of this framework can be difficult to grasp. At least at first; Laravel has a pretty steep learning curve and, for the experienced developer, is a cakewalk (not to be confused with CakePHP, another popular framework). As mentioned above, Laravel is the darling of many a developer. In fact, a recent Sitework survey found that Laravel was far more popular than any of its competitors – outstripping the next closest competitor (Symfony 2) by nearly 500 more votes. The reason for its popularity its multifold: • Pretty easy to use no matter the size of the project. At SDI, we frequently use Laravel on projects from low key APIs (i.e. JSON) to large scale operations like custom enterprise software. • It’s especially useful in creating feature-heavy applications. Not only is testing your website simple with Laravel, (frequently a problem with robust applications) but it places all of your APIs in one, easy to use control center. • Laravel is built for developers: it doesn’t require as much coding, its REST route is simple, it has its own Authorization Library and it has built-in code validation. Like I said, a cakewalk! Symfony 2 Every major framework has some claim to fame: Laravel is enormous and I’m pretty sure it will soon develop an intelligence of its own; CodeIgniter is wickedly fast and responsive; and CakePHP focuses on creating a highly secure framework (it’s also known for the rapidity with which developers can create an application. Symfony is no different. Like CakePHP, one of its biggest attractants is how quickly entrepreneurs can build a website using Symfony. More than that, Symfony is one of the most customizable frameworks: developers can use the “Brick-by-Brick” feature to create unique robust pieces of code or they can use the “Full Stack” option – a fully built framework for extremely complex applications. CodeIgnitor CodeIgniter is one of the oldest PHP frameworks still in use today. While not as popular as it once was, this framework still has die hard fans – including the creator of PHP, Rasmus Lerdorf. At SDI, we occasionally use this framework and have found it an excellent resource for mid to big projects. For instance, CodeIgniter is a great option for eCommerce sites – though Magento has its own selling points. Click here for more information on Magento. CI is easy to understand and has “a small footprint” – one of their biggest talking points. Basically, it’s not a huge framework, like Laravel, so it performs quickly and cleanly. Performance is one of, if not the, most important things to consider when building a website. If you are worried about performance, CodeIgniter development tools are for you. Of course, you should keep in mind that CodeIgnitor isn’t ideal for very large products. It has limited stocked libraries (though more can be added upon necessity) and doesn’t have the complexity of a framework like Laravel or Zend. CakePHP CakePHP is especially known for its speed and security. The CakePHP framework is best suited for small to medium projects as it focuses on efficiency instead of robustness. While they do emphasize how fast an application can be built using their tool, the developers have also done an excellent job when it comes to security. Their excellently designed product prevents all sorts of malicious attacks, such as SQL Injection, code validation, and tampering. SDI has worked with PHP frameworks like Laravel, CodeIgniter, Zend and Magento for years. One of the biggest projects we ever worked on was for the company GO: Grants Online. We built an all-encompassing backend for them using the Zend PHP framework. With their new backend, GO was able to control the grant process for all states in the U.S., creating a comprehensive application easily understood by all. If you are wondering which framework you should use, our expert team can guide you through the decision-making process. If you would like to see more of the work we’ve done (we’re quite proud of it), check out our portfolio page. If you’re building a website, make sure you check out this particular project! Interested in finding how CodeIgniter can start a fire under your business? Give SDI a call at 408.805.0495 for a free hour of technical advice from our CTO. If you’re ready to jump right in and get started on your own CodeIgniter project, drop us a line and we and get started today. Get in touch now and get 25% off the entire project!