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The Best PHP Microframeworks on a Cloud Server

Updated on June 29, 2021

6 Min Read
PHP Microframeworks

We’re always on the hunt for improved ways to perform rapid application development with international code conventions in software development, while following standard security and development rules. But what about an application you have to develop in a day or some hours?

The answer lies in PHP microframework.

Advantages of PHP Microframework

The microframework is a popular sub-classification of web application frameworks, usually derived from full stack frameworks. They come in handy for small applications that send and receive HTTP requests, route HTTP requests to a specific controller, and dispatch and return the controller response. They are commonly used to create API applications for other services or tools.

Popular microframeworks are based on industry-leading frameworks. I will discuss them separately.

Here is the list of best PHP Microframeworks we are going to cover in this article:

  • Silex
  • Slim
  • Lumen
  • Bullet PHP
  • Limonade
  • Wave Framework
  • fat free framework
  • Laravel Zero
  • Flight php
  • leaf php

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Silex Microframework

Silex is a PHP micro-framework built with Symfony Pimple and Components. Silex can be used to make single-page web applications. Its extension system based around the Pimple microservice container makes it even easier to tie in third-party libraries. It uses the Symfony HTTP Kernel to request and respond to HTTP requests.

Features:

  • It has an extension system based around the Pimple microservice container, making it even easier to tie in third-party libraries.
    Silex is best for creating Rest API.
  • It has excellent documentation and 3rd party community support.
  • It uses Symfony’s HttpKernel, which abstracts requests and responses.
  • Silex makes it very easy to test web apps and the framework itself. It also has one of the more significant followings, making it easier to ask questions and get stuff done.

Slim Framework

Slim is a PHP micro-framework that helps you quickly write simple yet powerful web applications and APIs. Slim is a dispatcher that receives an HTTP request at its core, invokes an appropriate callback routine, and returns an HTTP response. A Slim app contains different routes that respond to specific HTTP requests. To get started, you first initiate and configure the Slim app, define controller routes, and then run the application.

Features:

  • You can develop fast and lightweight APIs with a few lines of code.
  • It has a fast, powerful HTTP routing for designing SEO-friendly URLs and can handle many requests per second.
  • It’s a modern framework that follows up-to-date software development practices and secured cookies to improve system security.
  • It’s not restrictive and offers a lot of freedom while supporting many vital functionalities such as dependency injection for controlling external tools
  • It provides excellent performance and improved website performance and uses less cache thanks to its low weight

Lumen

Lumen is a new project from Laravel creator Taylor Otwell. Lumen depends on the Laravel base and works with its components, but it has been built for microservices.

You can consider it for projects and components that can benefit from the convenience and power of Laravel. It’s basically a massively stripped-down version of Laravel.

Laravel and Lumen share the same core components, so your investment in learning will also apply to the other in many cases.

Features:

  • It’s a great starting microframework for beginners, thanks to its clean documentation.
  • Lumen is customizable with Zapier.
  • Lumen loosely coupled components that usually support and enhance a core project.
  • Lumen is the lighter version of Laravel Framework, which makes the Lumen faster and smaller.

Bullet PHP

Bullet PHP is a useful microframework used to create REST API that automatically confirms the HTTP request. The bullet is resource and URI-oriented and comes pre-loaded with powerful HTTP features like content negotiation and caching. Apps in Bullet PHP are built around HTTP URI and defined paths. It handles one code segment at a time and executes the callback for that segment.

Features:

  • Super-flexible routing because of how the attached callback route is used for the routing system.
  • Reduced code duplication (DRY). Projectile takes full advantage of embedding closures. The routing system should reduce a lot of the typical code duplication required in most other PHP frameworks.

Limonade

Limonade is a PHP microframework for fast web development and prototyping. It’s inspired by frameworks like Camping or Sinatra in Ruby or Orbit in Lua. It aims to be simple, easy, and highly flexible.

Features:

  • Limonade is easy to learn and provides everything that you can expect from a modern framework.
  • Limonade provides a proper set of functions that can help you manage files like a File Manager.
    You can create your auto render functions to make automatic rendering.

Wave Framework

Wave Framework is built loosely on model-view-control architecture and factory method design pattern. Wave is made for web services, websites, and info systems. This microframework is built around native API architecture, caching and smart image, and resource management. Wave is a compact framework that does not include optional libraries, has a minimal footprint, and is developed keeping lightweight speed and optimizations in mind.

Features:

  • Database cache and File System caching, APC and Memcache supported.
  • Request logger that can be used for HTTP requests for detailed performance grading.
  • API wrapper classes that make browser and server to server communication easy.
  • Secure API requests with key-based authentication, token, and hash validation.

Fat Free Framework

The philosophy behind the Fat Free Framework and its approach to software architecture is minimalism in structural components. F3 is a powerful yet easy to use PHP micro-framework designed to help you quickly build dynamic and robust web applications.

Fat Free Framework avoids application complexity and balances code elegance, application performance with application scalability, and programmer productivity.

Features:

  • Whether you’re a beginner or an expert PHP programmer, Fat Free Framework will get you up and running in no time.
  • Speeds up your development process.
  • F3 gives you a mature code base and solid foundation, and a no-nonsense approach to writing Web applications.

Laravel Zero

Laravel Zero was created and maintained by Nuno Maduro. It provides an elegant starting point for your console application. It’s built on top of Laravel, the most popular PHP web framework. It is a customized version of the Laravel Framework for building command-line applications.

Features:

  • Laravel Zero has a powerful and simple syntax that enables developers to build complex applications far more quickly than any other framework.
  • Supports interactive menus and desktop notifications on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
  • Laravel Zero is a 100% open-source framework, so you’re free to dig through the source to see exactly how it works.
    Integration with error reporting tool Collision.

Flight php

Flight is a simple, fast, extensible framework for PHP that enables you to easily and quickly build RESTful web applications. Created to be an extensible framework, it comes with a set of default components and methods. It also allows you to register your classes, map your methods, or even override existing methods and classes.

Features:

  • Flight provides support for sending JSONP and JSON responses.
  • It allows you to swap out the default view engine simply by registering your view class.
  • Flight offers built-in support for HTTP level caching.

Leaf PHP

Leaf PHP helps you create clean, simple, but powerful web apps and APIs quickly and easily. A PHP micro-framework, it introduces a clean structure to follow while maintaining PHP’s freedom. It’s an excellent way to rapidly build robust and high performance APIs and web apps.

Features:

  • Leaf has a really easy learning curve.
  • Custom elements for Leaf UI are pre-created elements that combine a set of features. They make it a lot easier to perform some UI tasks.
  • Leaf PHP offers a CLI console tool for creating and managing Leaf projects.

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Bottom Line

That’s all for now.

By using the right PHP microframework for your applications, you can enhance project productivity and manage your work efficiently.

It goes without saying that choosing a PHP Framework is a difficult task. While all PHP frameworks offer similar basic features, they differ when it comes to advanced features, performance, security, and the level of community support and documentation. Furthermore, you can have a look on PHP benchmarks that have mentioned in detail about the states of PHP.

We would love to hear if you are using a PHP Framework that we missed out on. Let us know how your experience was in the comments section below.

Which is the fastest php framework

CodeIgniter has the reputation for being the quickest PHP system for web development. In case a web app revolves around data management, CodeIgniter is the most excellent PHP system as well. Using CodeIgniter, it is simple to create, embed, update, and delete coding articulations without composing raw SQL.

Share your opinion in the comment section. COMMENT NOW

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Shahzeb Ahmed

Shahzeb is a Digital Marketer with a Software Engineering background, works as a Community Manager — PHP Community at Cloudways. He is growth ambitious and aims to learn & share information about PHP & Laravel Development through practice and experimentation. He loves to travel and explore new ideas whenever he finds time. Get in touch with him at [email protected]

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