Laravel is a free and open-source php web framework developed by Taylor Otwell to build the web application based on the model-view controller (MVC). The main aim of developing the Laravel is to provide an alternative to the CodeIgniter framework, which does not provide built-in support for authentication and authorization.

What is CodeIgniter?

CodeIgniter is an open-source php web framework used for developing web applications rapidly. CodeIgniter is useful for the short-term project, but not for the long-term projects. Nowadays, the Laravel framework is more popular than CodeIgniter because of its performance, functionality, and usability. The developers compare the performance, functionality, and usability of different php frameworks according to the needs of their project.

Let’s understand the differences between Laravel and CodeIgniter.

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o Support for php 7

PHP 7 is a server-side programming language that contains certain new features and enhancements, and these features enhance the performance of the web application and reduce memory consumption. Both the frameworks, i.e., Laravel and CodeIgniter, support the 7 versions of php, but the developers face the problem while developing and testing the applications of php 7 in the CodeIgniter framework.

o Built-in modules

Mostly, developers prefer to divide the complex features into smaller modules to speed up the development process. Laravel contains the in-built modularity feature, which divides the project into smaller modules through a bundle, and these modules can be reused across multiple projects. CodeIgniter framework is not designed with the in-built modularity feature, so CodeIgniter developers need to create the modules with the help of a modular extension.

o Support for the databases

Both the frameworks, i.e., Laravel and CodeIgniter, support the array of databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft BI, and MongoDB. But, CodeIgniter supports some additional databases such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, orientdb, and JDBC. Therefore, we can say that CodeIgniter supports a higher number of databases than Laravel.

o Eloquent ORM

Laravel contains the feature of eloquent ORM. The Eloquent ORM (Object Relational Mapper) is used to interact with the different databases more effectively. The CodeIgniter does not support the eloquent ORM. Laravel uses Eloquent ORM that allows the users to interact with a database through a single model. This single model allows the user to perform various tasks on a single table, such as inserting new records, deleting a record, or updating a record.

o Blade Template Engine

Laravel has an in-built blade template engine that allows the developers to enhance the performance of the application by manipulating views. But, CodeIgniter does not have an in-built template engine. Laravel framework is integrated with a blade template engine to perform the common tasks and boost the performance of the web application.

o Rest API Development

Laravel contains the Rest API Controllers that helps the Laravel developers to build the Rest APIs. In Laravel, we need to simply set the $restful property to true in the Rest API controller to build the custom Rest APIs without writing the additional code. But, CodeIgniter does not have specific features that simplify the development of the custom Rest API. The developers need to write the additional code to develop the custom Rest API.

o Routing

The routing options available in both the frameworks work similarly. But the routing feature provided by the Laravel defines the routes in a more efficient way. In Laravel, all the routes can be defined in a single file. The route takes a single URI and a closure.

o HTTPs Support

Mostly, web developers use the http protocol to send and receive sensitive information securely. Laravel allows the developers to create custom http routes. Laravel keeps the data transmission secure by adding https://protocol before the URL automatically. CodeIgniter does not provide http support. In the case of CodeIgniter, developers need to use the URL helper to make the data transmission secure.

o Authentication

Laravel provides the authentication class that makes it easy for the developers to implement authentication and authorization in a web application. But the CodeIgniter does not have an in-built authentication feature, so developers need to write the custom CodeIgniter extensions to provide the authentication.

o Unit Testing

Laravel comes with an in-built testing tool, i.e., PHPUnit. The PHPUnit is a widely used unit testing tool. But, CodeIgniter does not come with an in-built testing tool. In CodeIgniter, we need to add the additional testing tool that will be used to assess the quality of the software by performing unit testing.

o Community Support

Both the frameworks, i.e., Laravel and CodeIgniter, are free and open-source php web framework. Both the frameworks have a large community, but the members of a Laravel community are more active than the members of a CodeIgniter framework. The developers can avail instant online help while developing the application in Laravel. So, php developers choose the Laravel framework due to these additional features available in a Laravel.

Laravel vs. Symfony

Both Laravel and Symfony are the cross-platform php frameworks that speed up the development of the web application.

Let’s understand the differences between Laravel and Symfony.

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o Programming Language

Symfony is a framework written in a “common php”. Here, common php means that the framework is written in a universal code. Every programming language has some basic constructs that make them unique and better than others. The php programming language has some magic methods and traits that Laravel uses on a regular basis, so code in Laravel becomes shorter, which is easier to understand and also changes the behavior of the applications.

o Database access

Both the frameworks, i.e., Laravel and Symfony, access the databases in a different way. Symfony uses Doctrine, while Laravel uses Eloquent to access the database. In Doctrine, migrations are created automatically; all we need to define the model and the fields in a model. In Laravel, the data can be accessed more easily, but we need some knowledge about SQL. The biggest advantage of Laravel is the coverage of possibilities. When some situation arises in Doctrine that the function returns an error, but in the case of Laravel, Eloquent is based on ‘accept everything’. In Laravel, the invalid data is also parsed and turned into predictable SQL.

o Template engine

The template engine used by Laravel and Symfony differ. Laravel uses Blade while Symfony uses Twig. The Blade is better than the Twig. The advantage of using Blade is the reusability of code. Suppose you create a function that you want to use in both controller and template, then we need to define the function twice in Twig. The reason is that templates cannot use php functions, and the controller does not use templates. But, in Blade, the functions can be used directly means whatever we define in the controller can also be used in the template.

o Scalability and Modularity

Symfony provides reusable components that offer better modularity. Both the frameworks, i.e., Laravel and Symfony, are based on MVC architecture. Symfony is more useful for complex and large projects as the codes are organized in a proper way.

o Authentication

Laravel makes the authentication very simpler as it contains the in-built authentication system, while Symfony has the custom authentication system, which is not simplified as in Laravel.

o Database support

Laravel supports databases such as SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Microsoft BI, MongoDB while Symfony supports databases such as Microsoft BI, MySQL, NoSQL, PostgreSQL, CouchDB, DynamoDB, MongoDB, MemcacheDB, GraphDB Membase, GemFire, Oracle.

o Form and Validators

In Laravel, the validation can be done in two ways, i.e., either the validation can be done in a form or through a manual validation of a request. In Symfony, we can validate a model. In Symfony, it is very difficult to validate the same object in multiple ways, but in Laravel, the same validation logic can be added in different forms in which an object is either created or modified. The customized validation can be used in both Laravel and Symfony. If we want to use the validation rule that does not exist in Laravel, then in Laravel, we can use After Validation Hook. In Symfony, we need to create a new validator.

o Cache and Performance

Both the frameworks are caching the views, but Symfony caches the data by default. Laravel works faster than Symfony without using a cache, so we had never felt to use the cache in Laravel. Therefore, we conclude that the performance of Laravel is better than the Symfony, and Laravel does not require as much cache as in Symfony.

o Debug and Development tools

Debugging is very important for an application. With good IDE support, debugging and profiling tools are also required to find the issues in an application. When we talk about the IDE, Symfony provides better support than Laravel. The IDE support of Laravel is very minimal. Laravel contains an advanced panel while Symfony contains a very simple panel. Symfony shows all the issues and all the advanced profiling details while Laravel shows some basic issues and some basic profiling details.

o Dependency injection

Applications have a lot of services and components which are dependent on each other. We user ServiceContainer, which is a php object that stores all the information about the dependencies. Laravel autodetects all the dependencies while in Symfony, we use “autowire” which can be turned on by adding autowire:true to the dependency configuration.

o ORM (Object Relational Mapping)

Both the frameworks Laravel and Symfony have ORM features. The ORM is required to map the records from an object in code to the database. In order to achieve this, we need to create a model that interacts with a database.
Laravel uses Eloquent while Symfony uses Doctrine to interact with your database. Eloquent is easier and friendly to use as compared to Doctrine.

So, this brings us to the end of blog. This Tecklearn ‘Laravel vs CodeIgniter and Laravel Vs Symphony’ blog helps you with commonly asked questions if you are looking out for a job in Laravel Programming. If you wish to learn Laravel and build a career Java Programming domain, then check out our interactive, Java and JEE Training, that comes with 24*7 support to guide you throughout your learning period. Please find the link for course details:

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Introduction to Java

• Java Fundamentals
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Installation and IDE’s for Java Programming Language

• Installation of Java
• Setting up of Eclipse IDE
• Components of Java Program
• Editors and IDEs used for Java Programming
• Writing a Simple Java Program

Data Handling and Functions

• Data types, Operations, Compilation process, Class files, Loops, Conditions
• Using Loop Constructs
• Arrays- Single Dimensional and Multi-Dimensional
• Functions
• Functions with Arguments

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• Object Oriented Programming in Java
• Implement classes and objects in Java
• Create Class Constructors
• Overload Constructors
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• Inherit Classes and create sub-classes
• Implement abstract classes and methods
• Use static keyword
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Polymorphism, Packages and String Handling

• Concept of Static and Run time Polymorphism
• Function Overloading
• String Handling –String Class
• Java Packages

Exception Handling and Multi-Threading

• Exception handling
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File Handling in Java

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Java Collections

• Wrapper Classes and Inner Classes: Integer, Character, Boolean, Float etc
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• Collections: ArrayList, Vector, HashSet, TreeSet, HashMap, HashTable

Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)

• Introduction to SQL: Connect, Insert, Update, Delete, Select
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• Batch Processing Transaction
• Management: Commit and Rollback

Java Enterprise Edition – Servlets

• Introduction to J2EE
• Client Server architecture
• URL, Port Number, Request, Response
• Need for servlets
• Servlet fundamentals
• Setting up a web project in Eclipse
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• GET and POST request in web application with demo
• Servlet lifecycle
• Servlets Continued
• Session tracking and filter
• Forward and include Servlet request dispatchers

Java Server Pages (JSP)

• Fundamentals of Java Server Page
• Writing a code using JSP
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• JSP directives
• Introduction to JavaBeans
• ServletConfig and ServletContext
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• Cookies Management
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Hibernate

• Introduction to Hibernate
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POJO (Plain Old Java Object)

• POJO (Plain Old Java Object)
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Spring

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