PHP Frameworks; Why We Use Symfony

We proudly use the Symfony framework for our development projects at Applecado. We've used it since we started the company in 2010, and firmly believe it is the correct way to write PHP code. 

What is PHP?

Let's begin by explaining that PHP is a scripting/programming language which is primarily used for web development.

PHP was originally created in 1993, and has become one of the most popular languages used on the web powering many of the world's most popular websites. Even Facebook is a PHP site, starting as standard PHP and continues to this day using a modified version of it called "Hack".

What is a Framework?

A framework such as Symfony is a structured foundation which supports the chosen programming language with reusable components that provides a skeleton for developing software, letting us focus on unique features instead of repetitive, low-level tasks. We think of it as a blueprint and toolbox for building applications, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and better quality code.

Because the framework handles repetitive tasks, this prevents our developers having to reinvent the wheel with every project and instead focus on business logic for our exciting clients.

How does using a framework help developers?

A framework inspires better development by ensuring compliant, structured, maintainable and upgradable code in developed applications. Following the ‘rules’ of a framework means that any Symfony developer or team will be able to understand the code or project with a view to maintain or update it in the future.

In addition, a framework may provide faster and better development as many have helpful features that can generate basic common code or skeleton functionality.

Why Symfony?

Symfony has been around since 2005 and is very well established. It is trusted by big names such as Spotify, Trivago, Dailymotion and Yahoo!, and has been used to create many huge websites and applications. The Symfony framework has a large following and an active community of developers, contributors and users. It is open source, which means anyone can use it, and it isn’t hidden behind high entry and accreditation costs.

We started using Symfony before version 1 was fully released, and we find that every release brings improvements in speed, security and maintainability - even if from time to time it requires a bit of work to upgrade older sites. We generally stick to their Long Term Support (LTS) releases, meaning we can ensure our websites and applications stay secure and issue free for longer.

We chose, and continue to choose Symfony because it:

• has a number of inbuilt security features.
• interacts very nicely with databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL.
• was built for performance.
• has excellent documentation and many users with solutions for issues.
• ensures correct syntax, some features won’t function unless the code has been written correctly.
• can help speed up development or put focus on other bespoke areas by allowing repeated code to be generated automatically.
• is fantastic for testing, some areas of unit testing are taken care of. The framework allows us to break down and debug individual areas of code.

Are there other frameworks?

Yes, there are lots!

A few we have worked with in the past:

• Laravel
• Slim
• Yii
• CakePHP
• CodeIgniter
• Laminas

While Symfony is the gold standard of frameworks, Laravel is also hugely popular - and actually makes use of various Symfony components.

We offer both full in house solutions built with Symfony and also take on external projects on a freelance or white label basis for agencies or consultancies.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!