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Which Framework: CodeIgniter or Laravel?

D

Dunmail

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 27, 2009
224
4
Skipton, UK
I've been tinkering with a homegrown MVC style framework (based on a tutorial that I can't remember the name of) and have used it for a section of a site. However I'm starting to get the impression that I'm reinventing the wheel - my own framework was as much about learning as heading to production. I also suspect that quite a few of the bits I haven't done yet or haven't realised I need will take quite a bit of work.

I've had a play around with CodeIgniter (v2.1.3. along with DataMapper for relational db access) and quite like it. I've also had a look at Laravel (v3) and it doesn't seem too alien. Removing most of the stuff that you don't need for production they are of similar size - around the same as half a dozen large, web optimised jpegs. Obviously a framework expects you to work in its own particular way, so some feel natural whereas others don't.

I'd be mainly using it on a site that has one section (let's call it admin) that requires authentication but the rest of the site is freely accessible. There are about 200 pages on the site, about half are static content that don't rely on database connectivity.

I know that Laravel is the flavour of the moment and that there's a new version imminent but is there any reason to favour one over the other? Features that are must have? Things that make development easier? That sort of thing.
 
chaos86

chaos86

macrumors 65816
Sep 11, 2003
1,006
7
127.0.0.1
I use code igniter for every site I build now. I have no complaints. Very good, searchable documentation, nice balance between features and feature bloat (I'm looking at you zend), and a very easy to follow MVC data path. I highly recommend it.
Never used nor heard of laravel.
 
rufhausen

rufhausen

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2007
135
0
Littleton, CO
I recently had to choose which framework to develop in moving forward and chose Laravel.
The way it deals with routes (even better in the Laravel 4 beta), the Artisan CLI tool for use with Migrations and Tasks (and for creating controllers, etc. in L4) has made my life a lot easier when deploying to different environments, as well as managing DB schemas.
Laravel 4 will be tied to Composer, which seems to be the future for dealing with third-party packages.
My memory is fuzzy on how Codeigniter deals with different environment (dev, test, prod, etc.) config settings, but Laravel's management of this very nice and very deep.
I don't think you can go wrong either way (love Codeigniter's documentation and large community), but I felt like Laravel was more future-proof and the community appears to be growing exponentially.
 
960design

960design

macrumors 68040
Apr 17, 2012
3,700
1,569
Destin, FL
Dunmail said:
I've been tinkering with a homegrown MVC style framework (based on a tutorial that I can't remember the name of) and have used it for a section of a site. However I'm starting to get the impression that I'm reinventing the wheel - my own framework was as much about learning as heading to production. I also suspect that quite a few of the bits I haven't done yet or haven't realised I need will take quite a bit of work.

I've had a play around with CodeIgniter (v2.1.3. along with DataMapper for relational db access) and quite like it. I've also had a look at Laravel (v3) and it doesn't seem too alien. Removing most of the stuff that you don't need for production they are of similar size - around the same as half a dozen large, web optimised jpegs. Obviously a framework expects you to work in its own particular way, so some feel natural whereas others don't.

I'd be mainly using it on a site that has one section (let's call it admin) that requires authentication but the rest of the site is freely accessible. There are about 200 pages on the site, about half are static content that don't rely on database connectivity.

I know that Laravel is the flavour of the moment and that there's a new version imminent but is there any reason to favour one over the other? Features that are must have? Things that make development easier? That sort of thing.
Click to expand...
STOP! I built a custom MVC for web dev a long time ago. It was perfect, well perfect for me. As soon as you start adding a couple of people to your team they get completely lost and have to learn something knew before they can even get started. That's at least a month of wasted time, the web does not wait. Definitely go with something that many more geniuses have already poured over and molded into perfection. At first, you may think, well that is a silly way to do something, but in the end you will see how it all comes together. So learn a framework, any framework! Then people will arrive already familiar with what's going on and can become productive almost immediately. It's kinda like magic.

Right now Laravel is the up and coming champion. I have been reading up on it over the last month or two. I only build SPA's these days ( last year or so ) and have not wandered into including Laravel into the mix quite yet, but I see where it would have many benefits.
 
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