Laravel and Symphony comparison – what framework should you choose?

Developers do not have an easy task. A whole team of people must work when creating a normal, seemingly uncomplicated application. The creation of the final product can be delayed by several months, mainly due to constant testing and debugging. Are there tools to facilitate this process?

What is the framework?

Framework is a skeleton application. It is also described as a tool for writing applications. It provides solutions for many existing and often recurring problems. Forces the application to be written in a certain way, which may not suit everyone, but in return offers ready-made solutions in diagrams and facilities. In addition, it allows you to build new functionalities. And all without focusing on the tedious elements of the programmer’s work, i.e. writing many lines of code.

Framework in practice

Working with the framework involves, in a sense, removing extra weight from you. This is done by using existing and tested solutions that give you time to better refine your application. However, these are not the only advantages of using frameworks. Creating everything on your own in the application can be more satisfying. However, it is worth remembering that in case of problems no one will be able to help you. What about when the whole team is working on the app? Many different, even interesting ideas, will not necessarily translate into a coherent and above all functioning smoothly whole. In turn, thanks to frameworks you are guaranteed support over critical sections of applications and a unified environment.

What framework should you choose?

It all depends on the needs, and the choice may not be easy. However, in most situations, it all comes down to technology differences or just personal preferences. In addition, business factors also influence the decision. To help you choose the framework, we’ve prepared a summary. In comparison, Symfony and Laravel take part – two PHP frameworks.

Symfony is a standard PHP language written on universal code. This means flexibility, because its syntax can be modified to another language, e.g. Java or C #, while maintaining functionality. Each programming language has its own features that distinguish it from others, often positively. Laravel uses other PHP features, so-called magic methods and traits. This makes writing in this language easier and less arduous. It reduces the time spent working on subsequent elements due to the smaller amount of code to write.

Symfony – characteristics

In short, Symfony is better suited to business application development and to long-term and complex projects. However, it will require a longer initial configuration, which means that the temporary investment, and hence the financial investment, may be higher. However, choosing this path can pay off when the project requires a high degree of personalization and further development after the release of the application to the client.

The Symfony 4 framework is based on simplicity. The version introduced in 2017 was slimmed down from the default library, engine templates and other dependencies, which were usually not used anyway. Framework has become a base package without additional modules. This encourages you to add only those items that you really need.

What’s more, the Symfony design is based on bundles, or file packages. Specific elements are installed, depending on the needs. It doesn’t matter if you need the shopping cart function for the online store or the translator component. Both additions will work independently and can be removed, transferred to another project or even a new framework. Then, if there is a need to make changes and modifications, you can edit a part of the project, i.e. a specific element, and not make overall changes.

If these values ​​are used appropriately, the application speed will be better than on other frameworks. The whole system will work as quickly as the sum of its components. In choosing the elements that build the entire project you have a big impact on the speed of the final product.

Laravel – characteristic features

Laravel is based on Symfony components and uses it as its own skeleton. It has many of its logical solutions, which translates into greater possibilities with less code. For this reason, it is better suited to smaller, but requiring rapid implementation of projects.

The Laravel Framework implements certain solutions, such as Eloquent ORM, from the very beginning. For a developer who doesn’t want to set it himself, it’s a great solution. However, this means that some of the items offered will be useless and some of the code will not be needed.

Magic methods are used to speed up development work. The construction of Laravel is to hide some elements so that the programmer does not have to deal with them. You get more functionality and less writing. However, this has its drawbacks. Errors in the code are more time-consuming to diagnose and more difficult to remove.

Finally, Laravel has a system that facilitates authorization. Every programmer knows how important this is for the final quality of the application. However, this system must be configured for models and databases for migration.

The choice of framework will be strongly dependent on the type of project you worked on. Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages, and the success of the project and the time of its completion may depend on the right decision. You should consider all the characteristics and combine them with business and financial factors, and the resolution of the dilemma will definitely emerge quickly.