A PHP framework for small and medium size projects
Updated April 04, 2017
A PHP framework for small and medium size projects
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with CodeIgniter
I used CodeIgniter on a previous project. The project was a Learning Management System. Back then CodeIgniter was in version 2. For small and medium size projects it was a perfect choice. It provided a simple way to access MySQL databases with its own ORM, a low learning curve, plenty of documentation and developers working on it plus you were able to deploy a CodeIgniter projects in any hosting provider, for real, from GoDaddy to AWS. The main problem when it comes to using a PHP framework it's the learning curve. It's common that projects have to increase features really fast, and depending on the learning curve, it can take from 1 to 3 months to have a decent level when it comes to writing code in certain PHP framework. CodeIgniter has a very low learning curve; In a couple of weeks, you can learn how to use most of the common things.
- Can be deployed on a very simple web hosting meaning low-cost hosting.
- A very short learning curve for web developers.
- Plenity of documentation.
- The project was stopped for a long time and some other PHP frameworks got on the way improving more.
- Not enough plugins so you will end developing a lot of custom plugins.
- When the project was not maintained during several months it was almost impossible to find plugins and you had to write all on your own.
CodeIgniter is a great choice for small or medium projects that can be deployed in every kind of hosting, especially those oriented to low-cost hostings like GoDaddy. Symfony and Laravel are frameworks for highly scalable projects with hundreds of plugins available. Also, these frameworks allow you to use any ORM of your choice, such as Doctrine or Eloquent or Propel; CodeIgniter instead forces you to use its default ORM. There are ways to add a different ORM and then it's a workaround and kinda "hacky" solution.