PHP frameworks revisited - CodeIgniter vs Zend
We are about to start a project from scratch at my new job and have been evaluating PHP frameworks. We’ve shortlisted CakePHP, CodeIgniter, Symfony and Zend.
I have put them through their paces by building the same application with all four of them (a simple wiki application) and hopefully, we’ll settle on one soon enough.
Full Disclosure: I have tried to be as unbiased as I possibly can but I’m already a CodeIgniter fan. That said, the company I work for is a Zend Partner (we already use the Zend Platform and Zend Studio) and I can’t help factoring that in.
Although the initial plan was to review four PHP frameworks, this post has become a direct CodeIgniter to Zend Framework comparison. I have had to exclude Symfony and CakePHP from the list after spending a few hours going through all four frameworks for the following reasons:
- Learning curve:
Both symphony and CakePHP have a very steep learning curve. CakePHP has strict rules about database table names, where files should be placed, method names and class names. Symfony stores its configuration in .yml format (requires learning although it’s not really that hard) and a lot of the interaction with the application is through a console. Creating database tables, data models and various other files are done using the command line. - Strict ORM:
CakePHP and Symphony have full-blown object-relational mappers (ORM) to provide access to the database and these cannot be disabled without a lot of effort. These ORM have strict rules and conventions which must be adhered to for the application to work.
In contrast the Zend Framework and CodeIgniter are flexible about using models and how they are used. Using a model is optional and while they each have data mappers, applications can work without them. The application will be extremely database intensive and we would rather not be limited in our choices. - Flexibility:
The Zend Framework and CodeIgniter are more flexible than the other two frameworks.
The Duel
| CodeIgniter | Zend Framework | |
| Set Up | CodeIgniter is very easy to set up. Copy all the framework files to the web server and it’s good to go. It also has a small folder size - about 2.1 Mb and I could display the default home page less than five minutes after I started the set-up. | The Zend Framework requires a bit of effort to setup the project. It requires the creation of a bootstrap file with all the initialisation stuff it. The framework is relatively large - about 12.4Mb and the set-up process took about 19 minutes. |
| Documentation | The documentation is very well-structured and organized although it is a bit less detailed than the Zend framework documentation. CodeIgniter also has forums and a wiki which feature a lot of user-submitted code. |
The Zend Framework has very detailed documentation with a lot of examples. It is less organised than the CodeIgniter docs in my view although this could be down to the afore-mentioned detail and the large number of components available in the framework.ZF also has a wiki with a few tutorials. |
| Templating | CodeIgniter includes a template parser class although in my opinion its use is limited as it does not support logic (e.g. if statements) in the views.However the CI recommendation is to use PHP tags in the views. | The Zend framework includes a Layout class designed to provide a common layout (or multiple layouts) for the entire website or application. It uses PHP tags for templating although it does provide an abstract view class which can be extended with a 3rd party template library. |
| Components | CI has a lot of libraries and helpers to simplify the developer’s life.While it does have less of these than ZF, in the main, the usage of the CI variants is simpler. | ZF has a massive number of classes and components.These are well documented although the usage is usually a bit more difficult than in CI. |
| Database Access | CI includes a database class which handles the database connection. The database class can be used for standard SQL queries creating, retrieving, updating and deleting data in the standard PHP way.CI also includes an active record class which is a modified version of the Active Record Database Pattern. This pattern allows information to be retrieved, inserted, and updated in your database with minimal scripting. In some cases only one or two lines of code are necessary to perform a database action.Beyond simplicity, a major benefit to using the Active Record features is that it allows the creation of database independent applications, since the query syntax is generated by each database adapter. It also allows for safer queries, since the values are escaped automatically by the system. | Zend_Db and its related classes provide a simple SQL database interface for Zend Framework. It allows for standard SQL queries but simplifies retrieving the SQL results.It also includes an ORM using both the Table Data Gateway and the Row Data Gateway. These represent the database table and row respectively as objects and can drastically reduce development speed.The downside is a slight performance deficit when compared to the modified active record pattern used in CodeIgniter which does not use objects as extensively.Zend_Db can also model table relationships in PHP classes making database joins a breeze. |
| Flexibility | CI is very flexible allowing almost all defaults to be modified. | ZF is simply a collection classes and as such any file or folder can be placed anywhere as long as the location is added to the bootstrap file. |
| Validation | Data validation in CodeIgniter is handled via a validation class. A set of rules gets defined and assigned to the validation object.The validation object automatically validates the data passed via the URL or form. From there, the programmer can decide how that gets handled.The validation class can also help automate some of the process of setting error messages for specific fields. | The Zend_Validate component provides a set of commonly needed validators. It also provides a simple validator chaining mechanism by which multiple validators may be applied to a single datum in a user-defined order.In ZF, each validator is a separate class and the class is added to the data (like a filter) rather than the data being passed into the class like it is in CodeIgniter. |
| Forms | The Form Helper file in CI contains functions that assist in working with forms.It aids in the generation of form fields although it does not completely eliminate the need to write HTML code. | Zend_Form simplifies form creation and handling. It handles element filtering and validation, escaping data and form rendering.Using Zend_Form, ZF can represent a form completely in PHP code including labels, validation and error messages. |
| Performance | CI has about double the performance of the Zend Framework. | The Zend Framework is about half as fast as CodeIgniter. |
| Testing | CodeIgniter has a unit testing class but it encourages mixing the test code with the actual source code so I don’t recommend it.A third-party extension for SimpleTest is available though.Using PHPUnit with the CI classes should also be possible. | The Zend Framework does not have a built-in unit testing class but the core classes use PHPUnit as their test framework and this can be extended to include any additional classes.Using SimpleTest with the ZF classes should also be possible. |
| Internationalisation | No | Yes |
| License | BSD-style | New BSD |
Summary
I was rather surprised at the performance difference (measured using apachebench loading the home page with one call to the database to retrieve four rows). I expected the efficiency of using PHP5 only features to make up for the extra size of the Zend framework.
The Zend Framework advantages include:
- The “official PHP framework”.
- My workplace is already a Zend “partner”.
- Full-featured layout and template system.
- Massive number of classes and components.
- Extremely flexible.
- More advanced database library.
- More advanced validation library.
- Internationalization support.
CodeIgniter advantages include:
- Extremely easy to setup.
- Lower learning curve then the Zend Framework.
- More accessible documentation.
- Concise syntax - The Zend Framework syntax is wordier.
- 100% faster than the Zend framework.
There isn’t any clear cut “winner” here in my opinion and we still haven’t chosen one yet.
Update: the benchmarks are now available
November 4th, 2008 in
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