Php: speed of frameworks

Question

I'm thinking about frameworks. I know they make life a lot easier, but as far as I understand they also significantly burden the server, don't they?

I'm looking for some kind of benchmarks, famous frameworks to basic php comparisons.

I have a will to create a kind of my own framework - a way simplier (no ORM and other cool stuff, only main ideas), but more flexible and faster.

Maybe the main question I'm interested in - How slower frameworks are comparing to basic framework-like PHP code with classes and other stuff, but with no ORM.

I'm not really sure whether I made myself clear - sorry for that.

Answer 1

Hi,

This benchmark might interest you : Labor Day Benchmarks ; and here is an update : A Siege On Benchmarks.

It kinda compares basic-html, basic-php, and some well-known frameworks.

Still, I cannot post such an answer without saying something like this (quoting Survie the Deep End's introduction ; emphasis mine) :

Base performance is something you must take with a pinch of salt. Since every framework has varying requirements and feature mixes it's hard (many would say even pointless) to compare them on an equal footing. The main point I'd make is that judicious use of caching and optimisation eliminates most base performance advantages any framework has over any other framework. Don't neglect that point please!

In the end of the day (or, when working on a big project), what really makes a difference, at least for "normal projects" is how long you need to develop what your client asked.

And using a big framework with great features reduces development time much -- and facilitates maintenance even more !
Even if it means you'll need one more server : hardware is pretty cheap, compared to a couple of days/weeks of developper-time !

Answer 2

I come from the same background you are now attempting to head into. I too worked exclusively with a framework of my own, and it was great, cause I knew what went wrong when things broke down.

Until you reach for the nearest framework (in my instance Zend) and see that all of the hard work is usually not worth the hassle. Good software takes 10 years to write, imagine just how long a good framework takes.

And at the end of the day, you can speed up you application dramatically with clever use of caching techniques and horizontal scaling, so the framework selection becomes second nature. Choose what you like, choose something that is well supported and you'll be fine.