Do PHP Framworks Speed Up the Development Process?

Question

I recently started working for a web firm as a freelancer taking my hobby of coding in PHP to a career level, and since then I have been overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done within short time frames.

The problem isn't being able to do what is asked, but being able to do it all as quickly as is needed of me. I never used any PHP frameworks, but if I started using one, would that speed up the entire development process? If so, how drastically?

Also which framework would be best for my purpose?

If it matters, what I do is mostly build back end cms's and tie that with front end functionality for small business client sites.

Answer 1

Once you know a Framework well (i.e. don't have to spend time learning how to use it), yes, it helps speed up both :

• The development process
• The maintenance process

Why ? Well, probably, at least, because :

• It provides guidelines
  • No need to think (too much) about what goes where, or how to do X or Y
  • Those guidelines are known by everyone who knows the framework -- which means you can hire a guy that knows the framework, and he'll need less time to be efficient on your project
• It provides a lot of useful libraries
  • which means less time spent re-inventing the wheel
  • and components that are already integrated in/with the framework ; which makes it easier to use them from your application than some random external component

Now, for the "which framework should I use" part... it's mostly a matter of personnal preferences, and there are many existing questions about that on SO.

To only give you a few links, you can start taking a look at questions+answers such as :

• PHP Framework Decision - Analysis paralysis!
• What PHP framework would you choose for a new application and why?
• To use a PHP framework or not?
• PHP - MVC framework?
• Which PHP Framework is right for this project?
• Best PHP framework for an experienced PHP developer?

And there are many others -- you can use the search box, in the upper-right corner of the site, to find more ;-)

Answer 2

They certainly do.

Something to be aware of is there are variable learning curves depending on the framework that you decide upon. So you might experience slower development initially while getting comfortable in a new environment.

I have seen the zend framework recommended may times.

Answer 3

firstly if you go to phpframeworks you can view exactly what kind of framework would fit your work load.

next, frameworks initially take time to implement corectly, but once everything is done, it speeds up considerably your development time for your projects. However what's nice about this is that if your framework is done correctly you can apply it to all your projects. Where I work currently we have a framework that is implemented and it applies to all the sites that are being developed. if you want each project to have the same type of look and feel and functionality then a framework is your best bet however if it's just for one project it might be a little too much.

Answer 4

I use Kohana (http://www.kohanaphp.com/), and I absolutely love it.