What are the pros and cons of using Yii Framework?

A framework can be massively productive for any developer who intends to build compliant, structured and efficient web apps in minimal time. In today’s time, as developers, we have a plethora of diverse frameworks regardless of the language we are programming in. The YII framework, however, is by far one of the most result-oriented, secure web frameworks to depend upon. It is designed for and by PHP to provide better developer experience through its features and better user experience through its end product.

Agreed, it may not be the one of the popular PHP frameworks for web development, it is surely one of the most promising open-source web app development frameworks. Below are some prominent advantages and disadvantages that come with YII, they are worth having a glance at.

Pros:

 The open source YII is undoubtedly the fastest framework for building Web2.0 applications (large scale). It renders a highly optimized performance, and can seamlessly be employed by developers for designing any kind of web applications. The generic web programming framework makes web development an enriched, intuitive experience (using PHP), and is perfectly suitable for large scale web applications – including e-commerce projects, forums, web portals, content management systems, RESTful services, and more.

 The MVC architecture of Yii helps the PHP web developers in crafting technically a smart web application. It helps in keeping the database server isolated from the view state of the application making it cleaner and effective. The Controller of the frameworks helps in managing different packages and libraries of the frameworks efficiently so that, the code pressure will decrease from the developer. It makes the whole system work as an object where a little tweak on the codebase will modify the entire system simultaneously. Any modification, addition, alters or deletion will be performed in a single line code and it will be visible throughout the application. At the same time, it provides a systematic approach to handle any application building process.

 Integrated with a Model-View-Controller structure, YII provides a horde of security features to ensure the highest degree of security to your application. Security plays the most important role in today’s world; because, more number of websites are dealing with sensitive informations like user data, their transaction history and also their personal credentials etc. So it must be given maximum priority in any web application. Fortunately, Yii comes with security features such as Cross-site Request Forgery Prevention, Cross-site Scripting Prevention and Cookie Attack Prevention. Since it is very significant for web developers to ensure thorough security for their app development, the framework comes embedded with authentication support, and authorization through hierarchical role-based access control. There is client side and server side validation as well, which developers can enable or disable as per their project requirements.

 The framework stands distinguished for its ability to function smoothly with third party codes. Users can seamlessly use code from their Zend or Pear framework in their Yes It Is (YII’s extended form) framework. This is like an ice on the cake; because this helps in increasing the potential of any web solution in an efficient yet professional manner. Imagine, a web application having the power of both Zend and Yii or of both Laravel and Yii!! They can definitely stand ahead among their peers and can contribute more to the PHP developer.

 Web developers also admire its clean, elegant caching support, and component-based architecture. For a developer, YII’s philosophy that code should be simple, and be written in the sophisticated manner works great. With caching, a smart web developer can build highly optimized web applications on the fly. In fact, considering a recent scenario where most of the web traffic are coming from smart devices; it becomes essential for every web developer to consider their website as a cross platform compatible one. Again, since their web app will render over smart phones, so they must be optimized enough so as to render similar user experience in all these memory intensive devices and platforms and fortunately Yii takes care of this wisely.

 It also offers ActiveRecord for relational as well as NoSQL databases, not to forget the query builders feature that YII provides. The tool further highlights its some of the most efficient caching features – letting users store cached data in different media. YII paves the way with an extremely solid yet seamless caching system, and lends support to XCache, memcache, ABC, and DB based page.

 YII framework is supremely easy to customize or check over, owing to its simple code structure. This enables developers to use varied widgets and extensions depending upon their web project requirements. At the same time, it is thoroughly object oriented – making it an ideal choice for anyone who is versed in object oriented web programming.

 The framework provides web developers with neat Ajax helpers, particularly with Grid view, and CRUD generator using Gii. Its Bootstrap extension support simplifies the whole process of creating responsive applications while integrated support for I18N allows users to have localized versions of their applications.

 Another significant advantage that YII has over most other programming frameworks is its large community support. The framework is supported and looked after by an extremely efficient team of professionals that consistently contribute to YII’s growth and development. The community pegs away at constantly integrating new features and advanced practices into the core framework – helping it evolve into a more sophisticated, performance oriented web application framework.

Cons:

 As a framework, YII does not come flooded with too many minuses. However, there is a portion of developers that steer clear of using YII as a framework for their web programming needs. To begin with, YII reveals kind of an over-reliance on static methods (a part of web developers community may not be comfortable with it).

 It is believed that YII demands extreme attention while one works with their application, for their code can quickly become bloated if proper care is not taken.

 The framework further has a somewhat steep learning curve, making it operose for new web developers to use or get started with.

Our word

Yes, YII framework does come with a few disadvantages, however, it is extremely powerful as a tool for developing a layered, structured web design. Some amazing attributes such as security, extensibility, theme organization, error handling, and integration with other frameworks make YII a great choice for web app development. We would highly recommend it!

Mindfire Solutions provides expert offshore PHP development services from India, gaining its expertise from years of experience in PHP web development and PHP application development. We have been working in PHP for the last 8+ years and have gained expertise on various PHP application development frameworks and PHP services.

What’s the best MVC framework for PHP?

“The 21st century has received a magical touch from the web industry. Every sector and every enterprise are now taking the assistance from web applications to enhance their business possibilities and productivity. As a result, many web domain specific technologies were born in this era starting from JSP, ASP, PHP, ROR and Python, etc. To make the web development process quicker and accurate in order to meet the expectations and high demands of the industry, many web frameworks have been developed for different web domain specific languages. These frameworks are equipped with highly optimized and well-organized libraries, modules, and packages to help the web developers in designing enterprise standard high performance web solutions. Most of the 21^st century frameworks follow MVC architecture, i.e. Model-View-Controller scheme. With MVC, the View component (user interface) remains isolated from the core logic section of the application making the development process much professional and well-organized than before. Fortunately, MVC architecture received overnight popularity from the industry and has been well accepted by both the developers and the tech experts. As a result, the industry is now flooded with many MVC web frameworks. Among those, PHP web frameworks have been a boon for the industry. This is mainly because; they are usually open source and hence enable web developers to create low cost web applications on the fly. Let’s check ‘what are the top PHP MVC web frameworks of the industry’ and then we will try to find out which one is the best?”

CakePHP- the power of OOP and ORM: It has been a continuous concern for PHP developers to implement Object Oriented approach to their application; now it is utterly possible with CakePHP. Besides other features that are common with many web frameworks, CakePHP comes with inbuilt support for ORM i.e. Object Relational Mapper. Here, the PHP developer is given adequate room to play around the database. In fact, the database tables are transformed into Objects; and different operations over the table are performed by different functions. This is very easy to digest for any web developer. Moreover, it is well equipped with CRUD scaffolding i.e. database operations like Create, Read, Update and Delete are performed in such a hassle free manner that the PHP developers need not think much about the background database queries for any modification of the database. Everything is done in a smoother manner by the framework without giving any pain to the developer. As a result, the web developer can focus more over the core logic and innovative ideas instead of running behind the database stuffs. As the database is under the control of CakePHP, any change in the application will automate the overall changes of the application without having to modify the code at every place. This establishes the power of the Object Oriented approach of CakePHP.

Zend for high performance web app development: Zend is one of the oldest frameworks of PHP and still it has remained as the first choice for many PHP developers. Zend was one of the first PHP 5 compliant frameworks for web developers, enabling them to develop contemporary web applications at a faster rate. Now, the latest Zend framework has made it PHP 7 compliant and that means more power and more efficiency than before. It has inbuilt debugging tools, i.e. xDebug and ZendDebugger to debug your source code. It makes the code not only error proof but also well maintainable. It has Zend server and when it combines with the core framework, the performance becomes outstanding, the efficiency touches every limit and the user experience improves a lot. Capability to integrate Emulators has made it future ready and to design modern web apps for different smart operating systems like Android, iOS or Windows and of course in a responsive manner. It enables the developer to have some inbuilt testing methods to be carried out over the application in a magical manner like unit testing with PHPUnit and Integrated PHPDocumentor 2.

Laravel for large scale development: It is yet another renowned PHP MVC framework having a tremendous market share gained in a very less span of time! It is best suited for large scale web solutions. Though it got launched in 2011 but by 2015, it surged out as the best PHP framework of the industry. Being a MVC framework, it enables the web developers in creating awesome web apps in a flawless manner. It is also known as FullStack because of its unmatched quality of resource handling. It has many unique features like HTML generation, optimized web serving, user authentication, etc. The list does not end! Features like automatic pagination, blade template engine, eloquent ORM, expressive syntax and reverse routing are there to boost the confidence of any PHP web developer. Modularity, flexibility and highly customizable offerings of this framework have made it possible to rule the web industry with dignity.

Symfony 2- better for speed carving websites: Symfony 2 is yet another PHP MVC framework that was gifted to the PHP developer in 2005. When it was introduced to the industry it had a clear vision to provide utmost benefit to the PHP developers in creating highly optimized and scalable web applications. Over time, it got reinvented and refined to make the framework even more useful than before. Now in 2015 it has come up as the most popular PHP framework for high speed web application development. It has a unique approach to handle multiple resources at once without compromising on the efficiency of the application. Like any other MVC framework, it also enables the PHP developer to keep logic section of the application isolated from the View section. But here, the database is handled in an optimized manner so that the end user will get the best user experience for any type of interactive communication between the user and the server. It is highly popular in creating event driven web applications that need excess power and speed for the process and Symfony 2 framework provides the same in a tranquil manner.

Yii – small yet powerful: Yii is considered as one of the smallest PHP frameworks of the industry; but it enables the web developer in creating attractive and beautiful web applications in a short span of time. It has many templates that help in creating quick web solutions without compromising on the look and feel and user experience of the application. Though, it is micro in size, but it is highly efficient and useful in crafting quick web applications preferably for small scale web solutions.

From above discussion, we find that every framework has a specific use and if they can be efficiently used by any PHP developer, the end product will be simply outstanding! So, all are best in their fields and specific circumstances and it would be biased to declare any one as the best. After all, it depends upon the project requirements and personal choice. If you want to harness the benefits of PHP then Mindfire Solutions provides expert offshore PHP development services from India, gaining its expertise from years of experience in PHP web development and PHP application development. We have been working in PHP for the last 8+ years and have gained expertise on various PHP application development frameworks and PHP services. 

Checklist of points while migrating to PHP

“In software language, migration refers to improvement. With every newer version, you will get more user access for better customization and improved user experience. So you must consider the migration process for your PHP website to make it a smart site on the fly over the latest platform. But, there are many potential threats in the migration process and we can’t ignore them at any situation. You must go through some considerations before you jump into the migration process.”

What you get from migration to latest PHP version? Migration means improvement. With the latest version of PHP, you will get enough scope for advanced web application development with many new and enhanced features. Features include support for namespace, Late Static Binding, native Closures, Jump levels, Nowdoc syntax etc. Along with that, a garbage collector is also added for developing advanced web applications on the fly. It is always recommended to remain up-to-date with the latest version of any technology to deal with the ever changing demands of the user.

Back-Up- the term has the highest priority for any Migration process: When you decide to migrate to PHP i.e. the latest version of PHP, the first thing that you should do is to keep a backup of all your previous resources at a secure place. It is recommended to keep those data in a new drive or a different machine drive so that, even by mistake you are not going to lose it during the migration process. The migration process doesn’t take few seconds or minutes rather it may take as long as few hours. So, there is a potential threat of unsuccessful migration process and hence chance of data loss in between. To avoid this issue, there must be a backup of all your resources including the database. Many times the database gets altered during the process so it is necessary to keep the database in a more secure place so that if any data loss occurs we can get it back without much hassle.

Consistency is must: During the migration process due to the change in platform, there is a high chance of inconsistency after the process is completed. It is very common and obvious to find inconsistency between two different versions of any platform. Usually many existing method names, class names and libraries source code get changed in order to provide better quality services with the latest version; but, this affects the behavior of our old PHP application significantly. To avoid this, you must go through each and every modification in the technology and then study the source code of those functions from the documentation and accordingly you should change your previous codes to work with the new platform. In this manner you can avoid the inconsistency issue caused by the migration process.

Compatibility should be well tested: Just like the inconsistency issue, there will be a sure shot compatibility issue when you evolve to the newer version of PHP due to the modified source code. Moreover it also affects the existing plug-ins severely. Most of the plug-ins will not work properly with the latest version and they should be replaced by the corresponding update versions in order to compatible with the latest PHP version. Usually most plug-ins releases their updated versions for the latest PHP version to avoid compatibility issue; but there might be few plug-ins or components that don’t have any compatible updates for the latest version. In that scenario, the developer has to take the responsibility of the plug-ins or components to make them alive in the new platform without mismanaging the application. It can either be done by removing the entire plug-in and its dependencies and then substituting it with another plug-in that may work what the existing was doing previously. Another way is to modify the existing plug-in codebase to make it compatible with the new platform.

Database migration needs full attention from the developer: During the migration if anything is highly unstable then it’s none other than the database. There is a high chance of data loss during the transition and hence you must take preventive steps before you start the migration process. As we have already discussed, the previous database should be kept in a safe and secure environment just like in an isolated drive of the same system or in a different machine. If any data loss occurs we can roll back the database from the backup folder.

Always perform the migration process with a SVN or RTC: SVN or RTC are used for keeping track of any codebase change in the application server. These are highly impactful when we are performing the migration process followed by code modification to make our application fit with the new environment. Usually we find errors and bugs in the new application after the migration process and hence it can be avoided by using an enterprise standard SVN or RTC for versioning purpose. It is like a life saver for the developers during any critical situations; because it enables the application to roll back to its previous version without zero hassle.

Make sure, your application can be roll back if needed: As discussed above versioning tools like SVN or RTC can be used for roll back of modified codebase but what about if the migration process is absolutely unsuccessful? In that case, we have to check if there is any migration tool available for PHP to migrate to a newer version and whether it provides the roll back option if the process is unsuccessful. As a tech savvy, we will not recommend you to rely over a software tool for the migration process and putting all your effort and risk on the same rather we would say it would be an unwise decision to rely on a manmade migration tool. To avoid this you should keep all your existing resource as backup in an isolated location or machine so that in case of unsuccessful migration you can restore your application from the backup.

Finally, Extensive testing is must: Once the migration process is completed there must be many compatibility issue, inconsistency and unreliability in your application. Hence it must be under go severe testing approaches i.e., both manual testing as well as automation testing to find out if any loop hole is still present in the application after iterative testing processes. Never compromise on the quality of testing at any cost because this will seriously hamper your end product or application.

Mindfire Solutions provides expert offshore PHP development services from India, gaining its expertise from years of experience in PHP web development and PHP application development. We have been working in PHP for the last 10+ years and have gained expertise on various PHP application development frameworks and PHP services. We offer expert PHP web design and programming services for global clients. Our Zend certified PHP programmers are proficient in PHP Porting and Migration services, PHP website development and PHP web development.

Review of PHP CodeIgniter Framework

“The new era web service applications are designed on a modern platform for better accessibility and code integration: It is known as Model- View- Design pattern or simply MVC. The same, we can find from PHP CodeIgniter platform. As the name suggests, there are 3 components and they are separated from each other by a virtual yet effective screen. It keeps the View i.e. the user interface absolutely isolated from the core logic. The View and the logic are controlled by an intermediate Controller. The Model consist of the core logic, database and rules of the application and it provides the relevant contents to the View i.e. Browser after the instruction of the Controller. By this process, the MVC architecture helps in keeping every aspect of the application safe and secured and most importantly in a systematic manner. Let’s have a glance over the CodeIgniter framework”.

Complete documentation for the user: Since, CodeIgniter is a framework developed on the MVC architecture; there are many components, libraries and functions available inside. In fact, the Model designs itself cumbersome. So, it becomes difficult for a developer to start writing code on the platform without any prior knowledge or in-depth knowledge of its components. To make the things easier CodeIgniter provides a complete documentation for all its components and features. As a smart web developer, you should go through each and every page of the documentation so as to make the best use of the framework. The documentation works like a user guide and hence it is extremely useful from the developer’s point of view. It has various indexes like MVC basics, Routing basics, Form validation, Performance improvement etc and these are extremely important in developing an enterprise standard web solution. It is always recommended to learn the documentation along with a corporate training for improved productivity of the developer.

Installation will not take more time or effort: CodeIgniter is a web application framework developed in PHP and enables PHP web developers in building reliable yet faster web solutions without much hassle. To getting started with CodeIgniter, one needs to install the framework on the server. For the same, you need to download the software and unzip the package from internet. Now you have to upload all the folders and files to the server on which you are suppose to work on. You can also use encryption or sessions by setting encryption key. The process is very simple and it doesn’t require any hard effort from the developer. Once you configure CodeIgniter you can start coding from the index.php page.

Advanced features have made it to sustain in the industry for years: There are many advanced and effective features that CodeIgniter possesses for designing high quality web applications. The most important feature of CodeIgniter is its MVC Architecture, which is extremely helpful in creating complex web applications in less time and with more accuracy. CodeIgniter is extremely light weight and hence it can help you in building light weight web applications that will definitely load faster on the browser especially when we are considering modern browsers for smart phones and tablets etc. CodeIgniter has an inbuilt form and data validation feature that eliminates the unnecessary effort that is being given by the developer in other platforms. It has FTP class and File Uploading class for manipulation of files in the application server. The enhanced full page caching features can definitely help in improving the performance of the application and hence user experience. It has other features like Active Record Database Support, Session Management, Error logging and Calendaring class etc.

SEO with CodeIgniter: Search engine optimisation is the most important feature of any web framework and it is now a must for every framework. Just like other PHP frameworks i.e., WordPress, Joomla etc, CodeIgniter also possess a search engine optimisation tool to make the PHP website well visible on Google. The search engine optimisation process starts with the title of the page and the search engine friendly URL. CodeIgniter has support for creating search engine friendly URLs along with other SEO features like key word density calculation, URL routing and SEO analysis etc. The URL routing or rewriting technique helps in improving page ranking in the search engine for better visibility of your website.

Ease of Use for CI developers: A framework can’t sustain for a decade in the industry without any potential. CodeIgniter has already proved its potential with awesome features and of course easy to use developer interface. The developer interface of CodeIgniter is extremely easy to understand i.e. a beginner can start coding on the platform without much hassle. Different components of the framework can easily be integrated to the application for enhanced productivity. It has many templates available for the CodeIgniter developer so that he can start developing web pages easily with the templates that are already made available for the developers.

Migration process is not a headache for you: Migration is something used for the improvement of your application with more optimised classes and data query. In web application development process it is extremely important for any business to be up to date with time in order to provide better customer support for your service or product. In CodeIgniter, the developer is allowed to manage his database schema for different environments and platform. The developer needn’t to manually run the MySQL queries for this process rather it can be done from within the platform itself. The best part is that it also provides scope for the CodeIgniter developer to reverse or role back of the migration process if found any issues during the migration. With CodeIgniter you can track all the versions of your database changes just like versioning of files as we use git i.e., we can go back or forward easily to a different DB version as per our requirement and as when we need it.

Flexibility and customization is really a wonderful feature: A framework is usually having some optional features that can be achieved for your application with the integration of plug-ins, themes etc. CodeIgniter developers are allowed to integrate various open source plug-ins developed in PHP or jQuery to make the website more feature loaded and attractive. A PHP developer can customise his web application through different plug-ins and components for enhanced user experience. On the other hand, it also helps in extending the functionality of the application without any high effort due to availability of source code from CodeIgniter expert community.

Nevertheless to say, CodeIgniter has an amazing track record of more than a decade and how this is possible we can easily guess from above discussions.

At Mindfire Solutions, we have dedicated developer teams for almost all major PHP Frameworks. We have been providing expert PHP development services to our clients for more than 10 years now and have executed over 100 projects in various PHP and PHP Frameworks. Please feel free to contact us if you have any custom application development requirement, our senior CakePHP, zend, CodeIgniter, Symfony developers will love to assist you in your requirement.

An insight into PHPStorm

PHPStorm- An intelligent IDE for PHP web developers: PHPStorm is like a blessing for PHP developer. It is an outstanding IDE or editor for PHP web developers. It is developed by Jetbrains and has a received a tremendous popularity from the IT industry in a very less span of time due to its magical features. It not only supports PHP codes but also other web scripts like javascript, JQuery, HTML and CSS etc. It helps in reducing the effort and time of a web developer to a large extent with its intelligent properties. When we say it’s intelligent, that means it is smarter than other IDEs like komodo or notepad plus etc.

Why IDE? IDE stands for integrated development environment. This is like an editor that capable to be integrated with a framework for better productivity. It provides numerous types of assistance to a PHP developer during the development process which helps in avoiding silly mistakes and hence bugs in the application. On the other hand it also reduces the effort of the tester to a large extent due to minor bug free application. Hence it is like a integral part of the development process for any web application development project.

Code assist: The basic nature of PHPStorm is to provide code assistance to the programmer during programming. It helps in different programming supports like code auto complete, code suggestion and highlighting different components of the web application. It also helps in maintaining proper indentation in the programme that can help the application to be well readable and maintainable for future. Moreover it can also suggest for different method name, variable name or even library name during the development process which definitely helps the developer in avoiding common spelling mistakes in the application. Different web components like HTML tags, CSS tags etc are highlighted on PHPStorm platform that helps the developer in avoiding unnecessary silly mistakes.

PHPDoc support: PHPDoc is well supported by PHPStorm. As a result it helps in developing enterprise standard web applications with global rules adopted by the developer. It gives the application a new standard that will definitely help the application to be debugged in future. Well we can make few customisations in this option for our requirements and needs.

Debugging can be hassle free: With PHPStorm IDE a PHP developer can debug the application in a more professional and efficient manner. He can take the help of other debugging tools like xdebug for quality debugging in less time and with more accuracy. In other words we can say the debugging process can be easier through PHPStorm.

Productivity increases: PHPStorm helps PHP web developers in writing industry standard professional codes on the platform. Moreover these codes are not only well readable but also highly maintainable and flexible in nature. Hence it reduces the overall maintenance cost of the application in a long run scenario. Due to its intelligent features as discussed above it reduces not only the time and effort of the developer and tester but also the overall cost of production of the project making it quite productive than before.

Mindfire Solutions provides expert PHP development services from India, gaining its expertise from years of experience in PHP web development and PHP application development. We also have dedicated teams of various important PHP Frameworks like Zend Developers Team, Kohana Developers Team and CodeIgniter developers Team. If you want to Outsource PHP Development or hire PHP Developers, you are at the right place. Please write to us at sales at MindfireSolutions dot com and we will be sending a free quotation in one business day.

Ladder – Things to know about this PHP database migration tool

Are you developing an app without any support from framework in PHP? PHP is a web language which is extremely reliable and popular in the industry. PHP is an open source language and hence there is a tremendous support for PHP developers from the community. When PHP combines with MySQL it becomes a deadly combo for the web developer because he can develop any type and size of web application. Moreover, there are many frameworks available in PHP like cake PHP, zend and laravel etc. These frameworks make the life of the PHP developer much easier with their hilarious features. It helps in keeping track of all types of activities of the developer during the development process. On the other hand, if a PHP project is developed without the support from a framework then the PHP developer will miss the advantages that he would have gained from the framework. In this situation he should take the help of a third party data base migration tool to keep track of each and every activities of the web developer.

Why Database migration tool (Ladder)? When a team of web developers work on a PHP development project without any support from frameworks, there is a chance of data incompatibility among the developers. Sometimes at the middle of the project, we find it necessary to change the schema of a table in the database. In that situation it becomes very difficult to modify the table with all precautions. Moreover while modifying the schema it is necessary to consider the version of the application in order to avoid the compatibility issue. Moreover if one of the team members alters the configuration of the database then it should be visible to all other members and the process should be performed keeping all the versioning issue in mind; because this may lead to crash of the application if a synchronisation is not made among the programs. To avoid this issue a PHP developer should use something just like a SVN to keep track of all the activities of the team members who deal with sensitive data of the database. Ladder is one such database migration tool for PHP and MySQL to keep track of all the database changes made by the developer with detailed information like data and time of modification and it will also prevent unethical modification of the database. It also helps in comparing different modification versions of the database so that in future the PHP developer will not face any trouble while dealing with debugging process of the application.

Importance of Ladder: Ladder is a database migration tool that can help the web developer in creating, running and managing database migration in PHP environment. It is nothing but a PHP class, which has the capability to keep track of all the modification versions on your database. Moreover, it provides support to modify multiple database schemas in an application in one take. Well, though it is instructed to perform multiple modifications in one take; but, it performs the tasks in multiple steps. Moreover, it performs the migration or modification in a sequential manner so that there will be no redundancy error in future.

If you would like to hire PHP developers from a custom PHP development company for your development needs, please visit Mindfire Solutions.

Ensuring better data management by integrating MySQL with PHP

The combination of PHP as well as MySQL proves to be powerful when it comes to creating dynamic webpages. Such webpages help in interacting with your visitors better. On the other hand, HTML can help to create well formatted and useful webpages. Data can also be collected from the users or created from specific content that is on the fly. There are many things that PHP and MySQL combination can do that HTML alone cannot.

About MySQL

This is one of the most popular as well as widely used open source databases. It offers considerable easiness while using and great amount of reliability. Moreover, there are no costs associated with using this relationable database. In addition, there are several documentations that are available for free. The community created around it is impressive as well as numerous programmers share their codes that are helpful in communicating with this type of database.

About PHP

It is a widely used programming language that has to be used along with HTML. The USP of this langiage is that this can be used directly within the existing HTML content. Besides, the HTML tags can also be included within your custom PHP development coding. While learning PHP there is no need to give up all that you need to know about HTML rather you are simply adding more functions to the existing ones. This is a scripting langauge wherein HTML might be embedded. As a result this langauge is able to execute a number of functions like printing data, work on the numeric calculations as well as create simpel boolean options.

How can these two work together?

Both of them complement each other. PHP is able to collect information while the relational database stores the same data. The former might also develop dynamic calculations while the database will offer with variables that it requires. Similarly this langauge is used to develop a shopping cart for a particular webstore while MySQL is sused to keep all the information like demand receipts, order status and other product related data.

Although both of them are able to also function separately but when the programmers combine them, it opens up a host of new opportunities. With the internet developing bit by bit each day, it is important to deliver more and more dynamic content in order to keep up with the rising demands of the web surfers. The customers are looking for the desired data to be delivered to tham instantly. This is where data has to be managed wisely. To meet this end both MySQL and PHP could be combined.

The scripting language is the final doorway to the database. It works as a sort of midlle man who is armed with several technologies and can transfer the data as required. The programmers, thus, are able to combine these technologies to offer a better user experience to the visitors.

We provide PHP application development services. If you would like hire a certified PHP developer for your web development needs, please visit Mindfire Solutions.

Pros and Cons of CakePHP – The Complete List

CakePHP is hugely popular among web programmers due to its effectiveness in making web application development faster and simples. The open source PHP framework further enables developers to create modern internet apps without writing longer lines of code. Despite being written in PHP, CakePHP follows several concepts of Ruby on Rails. At the same time, it also supports web development for both PHP4 and PHP5, along with several software engineering concepts. However, you still need to consider the pros and cons of CakePHP, if you are planning to use it for building your next internet applications.

Major Advantages

• CakePHP supports several widely used software development models including Model-View-Controller (MVC). So developers can use the MVC pattern to keep the business logic and interface separate. The separation makes it easier programmers to simultaneously work on different models. Further, they can easily maintain and update the large web applications without working from the scratch.

• The code generation and scaffolding feature of CakePHP enables programmers to rapidly create prototypes and reusable code. The code reusability makes developers more productive, while reducing the overall development time. Further, they can rapidly create new PHP applications by reusing the existing code for different projects.

• Unlike other PHP development frameworks, CakePHP does not require programmers to use complex XML or YAML files. They can simply setup the database, and start application development. Also, the framework effectuates database management by automating the features. The programmers can further use the built-in validation and authentication functionality of CakePHP to avoid writing additional code.

• CakePHP also comes with a templating system that is both fast and flexible. It further allows programmers to enhance the application’s look and feel by creating custom templates. Some developers even help enterprises in designing tailor-made custom CakePHP templates within a shorter amount of time.

• Many developers find it daunting to work with standard PHP classes. While dealing with different classes, CakePHP allows programmers to directly access Core and App directories. So it becomes easier for them to define the functions of each class in a much simpler way.

• In comparison to other PHP frameworks, CakePHP comes with more innovative built-in tools to make the web applications safe and secure. The programmers can use the built-in tools to prevent SQL injection and cross site scripting (XSS) attacks. Also, the tools help developers to validate user input, and prevent form tampering and CSRF.

Significant Disadvantages

• Many users feel that documentation of CakePHP is inadequate and needs improvement. Despite being a simple and easy-to-learn, CakePHP is considered to be more complex than other PHP frameworks like CodeIgniter. So the developers have to invest both time and effort to learn various aspects of CakePHP.

• Unlike other PHP frameworks like Symfony, CakePHP does not support default routes for Fancy URLs. So while crating Fancy URLs, programmers are required to update the default routes. The feature adversely affects the efficiency of CakePHP for modern web application development.

• Some users have also highlighted the difficulties in migrating from version 2.x to 3.x of CakePHP. To become faster, CakePHP 3 does not support a number of backwards compatible changes. That is why; web programmers cannot easily switch their existing applications to the updated version of the PHP framework. However, the developers can directly use CakePHP 3 to develop applications with the new features.

Despite these limitations, CakePHP still complements the latest trends in web development. As it is an open source web application development framework, it can be used by both small and large businesses to rapidly create commercial PHP applications. However, you must not forget evaluate the pros and cons of CakePHP according to the nature and requirements of your next internet application. You can hire developers from top PHP development company India who can help you build projects within allocated budgets and time schedules.

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Symfony framework for developers – Is it good for development?

There are a number of frameworks that are available in the market today which the developers can use to create applications at a faster pace. Symfony is one such framework that can be used to achieve this end. However, the developers are mostly unaware of its benefits that can be utilized well in developing effective solutions.

Faster and requires less memory

This is one of the benefits owing to which the developers should prefer Symfony2. From the very start it was conceived as a framework that would be fast and deliver highly effective performance. Besides delivering faster solutions, Symfony also demands less memory space.

Adaptability

The flexibility that it offers is outstanding. No matter what the developers require, Symfony can be adapted for all kinds of requirements. The dependency injector and Event Dispatcher enable it to be completely configurable where each of the bricks is entirely independent. Thus, a developer can build the framework depending on the functionalities required. Secondly, it can also be used to develop a particular functionality in a project. There is no need to develop anything or install the whole network. All the developers need is a single brick. Permanence is another factor why it is used. The company that offers Symfony is its biggest support. In addition, an impressive community has also developed around it along with various service companies investing in the framework.

Expandability

Right from the smallest brick to a whole core – herein everything is presented as a bundle or plug-in. each of this bundle is expected to add a separate functionality. These can also be reused in another project or be allowed to be shared with the rest of the community. These bundles help in altering everything within the framework. This also includes the core. Without any need for an entire configuration, the behavior of the framework can be altered.

Pro-testing framework

For unit testing this is one of the most suitable tools. It is testing-prone which makes it quite easy for isolating classes, mocking objects and injecting stub dependencies.

Perfect for complicated web applications

There is an extensive cache system in Symfony. This is easy to configure for both a new user and a PHP expert. What is important here is to decide about the size of the project. If you are developing a project of 10 pages, there is no need to employ a framework. But for the complex web applications, using PHP is not adequate. In this regard, the Symfony would be of great use.

Stable and Sustainable

Most of the major versions of this framework are supported for a span of 3 years by the company that develops it. As far as security related issues are concerned, it gets lifelong support from the parent company. To ensure better security, there are minor versions available which ensure that the API is defined by public interfaces.

Provides a comfort level

It is a functional environment that also guarantees a comfort level to the developers. By dealing with various erroneous tasks, it allows the developers to shift their focus on the actual issues within the application and authenticate their roles and enhance the productivity. The Web Debug Toolbar simplifies the development process. This also helps the development environments, native security and detailed error pages.

Easy to use

Being accessible and tremendously flexible, it even allows the beginners to feel comfortable.

Innovation is the key

Symfony is always endeavoring to bring newness to PHP. In fact, it was the first major framework to accept PHP 5.3. It also introduced the use of Dependency Injection container and the usage of Twig. The latter was later adopted by the primary CMS-es, including, Drupal and eZpublish.

Owing to such benefits it has developed as a framework that is being widely used to build major websites. There are several well reputed companies that have adopted Symfony for building solutions. You can hire developers from custom PHP development company, who can help you build web apps within allocated budgets and time schedules.

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Few PHP Tools for Developers to Build Featured Website

Undoubtedly, PHP is one of the most popular programming languages that the developers use to build websites as well as web applications. These solutions are both innovative and effective. As far as websites are concerned, they are regarded as the mainstay of the Internet which almost acts as a lifeline for the online businesses. Therefore, it is obvious that under such circumstances, where people are increasingly opting for technology to expand their business, websites have become indispensable nowadays for attracting visitors. In this regard, PHP is an independent platform for the developers as it can be utilized to build dynamic websites that are packed with interesting features. Therefore, the developers are always looking for useful PHP tools with which their workflow and web related tasks become faster as well as better.

Here’s a look at some of the PHP tools that are apt for developing these kinds of websites:

ICE Coder

With the help of this tool a single code is adequate to be employed to build a website. ICE Coder is an open source that charters the developers so that they build websites in 2 modes – online and offline. This is achieved with the help of a single program on a browser. It accelerates the assessment procedure of a website on the actual web server regardless of time. In fact, immediate changes can also be introduced. Maintaining the website is also possible. All that is required is a system with inter connectivity so that the assimilation and customization is possible with online services. This helps the tool to speed up its performance.

PHP Free Chat

It is easy to use, open source application. This has a responsive layout that enables a number of users to access it from various devices (laptops, computers, mobiles, tablets, etc). In addition there are a number of built-in features that helps in building a featured website with varied aspects. The developers an include multi language chats and there is a storage option for messages as well as nicknames. AJAX is applied to ensure that the chat and nickname zone functions smoothly.

PHP FastCache

It is another open source tool that offers a free cache library. It is a solo file that the programmers utilize for caching. According to experts this is one of the best applications available for this job. It ensures high performance as well as speed that helps in mitigating the pressure on the database. It is packed with a dispersed object caching system that can hold onto the load of the database. As a result, the speed of the web pages increases by almost 1000 times.

Whoops

This is actually the legacy of the PHP developers! They have successfully developed a library that is smart, compact, tested and clean. There is a code base to deal with several exceptions. This code is suitable for all kinds of frames. It has a plain API to deal with data and find the frames that are compatible with all kinds of applications.

PHPImageWorkshop

This, again, is an open source class that uses the GD library to help the programmers to deal with images. It is similar to the software used to edit images, like, Photoshop. There are many layers that can be superposed and each layer has a separate background image. This class was considered one of the most flexible tools where innumerable images can be superimposed, cropped, rotated and resized. It is a group and layer at the same time. Besides the background image there are a stack of sub-layers as well.

DebugBar

This is a free open source app that can be integrated in any kind of PHP project to collect as well as present data. It supports AJAX requests. It also includes the generic data collectors for the popular libraries. In the footer a bar appears that has been built purely with JavaScript.

Sylius

It is free ecommerce solution that is based on Symfony2. The PHP developers can manage stores of various sizes as well as huge database of categories and products. There can be different tax rates for the products, shipping procedures and the application further integrates multi gateway payment facility.

Pico

This too is an open source CMS solution using flat files for the database that is built with PHP. There are no set up hassles and the app works immediately.

phpMyFAQ

For websites that are looking for FAQ systems this tool is apt. It is a stable application with a powerful admin interface that can deal with users, categories, see stats as well as entries. The advanced search system is equally helpful that enables the users to find the relevant replies easily. The best part is it can be customized and has an interface that supports multi language usage.

It is these PHP tools that make it apt for developing featured and creative websites. You can hire developers for your PHP website development from web development companies, who can help you build web apps within allocated budgets and time schedules.

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