Benefits of PHP MVC Frameworks

I've been reluctant to switch to an MVC framework for quite some time now, but the benefits outweigh the negatives. I'm officially going to start using CodeIgniter, Laravel, Yii, CakePHP, Symphony and Zend to create (or modify existing websites) and to adhere to those standards. Each website will be written with a different framework of course.

I'll let you know how each framework does for me as I finish each site creation or transition.

Some benefits for using an MVC framework:

• Code and File Organization
• When you setup a PHP Framework, it already has a certain folder structure. It is expected from you to follow the same standards and keep everything organized in a certain way. Once you get used to this model, you will never want to go back.
• Utilities and Libraries
• All top PHP frameworks come with certain Libraries and Helpers, that help you with:
• Form Validation
• Input/Output filtering
• Database Abstraction
• Session and Cookie Handling
• Email, Calendar, Pagination etc…
• The MVC Pattern
• The famous Model View Controller Pattern dates all the way back to 1979, when a guy named Trygve Reenskaug (a Norwegian computer scientist) first described it.
• Security
• With a framework, most of the work can be done for you automatically. For example in CodeIgniter:
• Any value passed to database object gets filtered against SQL injection attacks.
• All html generating functions, such as form helpers and url helpers filter the output automatically.
• All user input can be filtered against XSS attacks.
• Encrypting cookies automatically is only a matter of changing a config option.
• Less Code & Faster Development
• There is of course a learning curve for all PHP Frameworks. But once you get over this hump, you will enjoy the benefits of rapid application development.
• You will write less code, which means less time spent typing. You will not have to chase down 3rd party libraries all the time for every new project because most of them will come with the default framework install.
• Also, since you are being more organized, it will be much faster to chase down bugs, maintain code, and make changes to existing code.
• Community Support
• All popular PHP Frameworks have great active communities behind them. You can talk to other developers, get help, feedback and also give back to the community yourself.
• Job Opportunities
• Have you looked at any PHP Job postings lately? Most of them require experience with either Frameworks or a CMS. Follow the demand!
• Performance Tools
• One of the main arguments from the naysayers comes in this subject. There is obviously a performance hit when you build a “Hello World” application with a framework vs. plain PHP code.
• But those benchmarks are just bad examples. First of all, you should understand that developers are more expensive than servers. Saving time from development and maintenance is likely to outweigh any extra money you need to spend on servers.
• Putting all of that aside, you can actually gain performance benefits by using a PHP framework. They come with tools that help you do caching, benchmarks, profiling etc…
• Modern frameworks are also great with dynamic loading, as they load code only as needed. Different page requests can load different amount of library code based on what needs to be used.
• Suitable for Teamwork
• The way your project is organized in a PHP Framework also helps you create a suitable environment for teamwork.
• And It’s Fun!
• This might actually be most important point of all. When you have fun doing your work, you will be more productive and happier in general.
• If you have been coding plain old PHP for years, and getting really bored with it, getting started with a Framework can give you that crucial morale boost you have been lacking.

Credit goes to PHPandStuff.com