Most developers look for a PHP web development framework with a well-commented, reusable, and maintainable while working on complex projects. Such a PHP framework simplifies the process of web app development and helps developers to save plenty of their time and effort. That said, there is an abundant collection of such PHP frameworks available in the market today.
Most discussions regarding the best PHP frameworks often boils down to Laravel and Symfony. Millions of developers use these two frameworks due to their stunning features, usability, and other attributes. However, it may seem a bit hard to determine to decide which one of these frameworks to choose when working on a new project. If that’s the case, then you should thoroughly compare Symfony and Laravel to make an informed decision.
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Similarities
Symfony and Laravel share more than a few striking similarities and they also have plenty of similar integral features. For instance, both Laravel and Symfony supports full-text search and Scaffolding. In addition, both of these PHP frameworks have cross-platform features. Now, let us take a detailed look at the major differences between these two popular PHP frameworks.
Differences between Symfony and Laravel
Performance
You will be easily able to track the performance of both these frameworks by measuring the loading speed of sites that are built with them. On average, websites that are built with Laravel loads within 60 milliseconds. However, the average loading time of websites that uses the Symfony PHP framework is estimated to be around 250 milliseconds.
The Laravel PHP framework caches just the views while the Symfony PHP framework caches both source code and views. This is why Symfony has a higher website loading time.
Popularity
The Laravel PHP framework is actually a lot more popular than the Symfony PHP framework. In fact, more than 1 million websites on the web are built with this framework. On the other hand, the number of websites that uses the Symfony PHP framework is just around 15 thousand.
It is best to choose the popular PHP framework if that is suitable for your project. This is because a vast community of developers will be always there to help you.
Speed
Laravel PHP framework do not contain any kind of features for maintaining the speed of web development processes. This is what makes Symfony a better choice if you are looking for a framework that will help you with application speed management.
Developers who are using the Symfony PHP framework will be able to manage web application development speed. In fact, they will even be able to handle the speed of a single features or the entire application if required. The external features that are not essential may also be halted.
Middleware
Both Laravel and Symfony PHP frameworks are capable of supporting middleware. However, the difference is they support middleware in different ways.
For instance, Symfony for supporting middleware whereas Laravel heavily relies on the decorator pattern for the same. You need to realize that both these patterns have their fair share of pros and cons. You can check out
Modularity
The Symfony PHP framework comes with a fine collection of reusable components, which ensures better modularity. The ability of Symfony to neatly and properly organize code makes it ideal for complex and sophisticated web development projects. This is why several experts prefer Symfony over Laravel.
It is true that both of these frameworks are designed based on the MVC architecture. However, Symfony is still the best choice when it comes to code modularity and component reusability.
Database Support
The Symfony and Laravel PHP frameworks incorporate the use of ORM (Object Related Mapping) for the process of data access. The ORM of the Symfony framework is managed by Doctrine while the same for Laravel is handled with the help of Eloquent.
The presence of ORML within these two PHP frameworks makes the process of data manipulation a lot simpler. You should also note that a number of additional options are available with the Symfony PHP framework.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, both Laravel and Symfony are rich in features and suitable for a wide range of web development projects. However, Laravel is undoubtedly the best choice when it comes to rapid web app development. On the other hand, Symfony tops Laravel when it comes to the development of complex and sophisticated web applications.