Best PHP Framework w/ AJAX Support?

Question

Question

I'm fairly familiar with many of the PHP frameworks out there, but I'm wondering which ones actually integrate AJAX functionality and which ones do it well? Ideally I'd love to find a framework that would allow me to avoid JavaScript alltogether (at least for typical/basic JavaScript functionality).

Does such a thing exist? If not, does anything come close?

Answers/Research

So far, here's what I've found. This includes info from the responses as well as outside research.

PHP Frameworks

• Symfony
• CakePHP
• Zend Framework

PHP Libraries

• XAJAX

Answer 1

I haven't used it recently, but I believe the Zend Framework contains the Dojo Tookkit library, or at least integrations for it.

Answer 2

Nothing springs to mind, but you might look (a little less specifically) for a php library that abstracts JS calls to PHP (which would generate the JS for you in your templates). Such a library could be used in conjunction with your framework of choice, if you like.

Answer 3

Symfony is a pretty awesome framework for PHP; with easy ajax! ;)

http://www.symfony-project.org/

Answer 4

I think CakePHP has AJAX support. It's a really nice MVC framework.

Answer 5

I use cakephp with jquery. Cake does have some ajax support but it's nothing compared to what jquery has to offer. Cake is a very powerful framework the only downside is that their documentation can be limited at times, which results in having to dig through the code to figure out how something works.

Answer 6

Check out XAJAX. No JavaScript required. Takes a few hours to get figured out but works really well.

Answer 7

Tigermouse framework was developed with Ajax in mind. It relies heavily on Ajax calls. The thing is... it is not in active development right now. I stopped developing it because of lack of interest. The code is still available, you can use it if you wish.

No Javascript coding is required. All UI elements are defined much like in SWT or QT or GTK# and events are handled by listeners. See example applications here.

Answer 8

Sajax is the simplest, and so easiest to grok, I've seen.

Answer 9

It's a nice and novel idea to have a PHP framework that supports AJAX out of the box. However, there are times that you need to modify the AJAX code or troubleshoot the javascript generated by the framework. So at the end of the day, you still can't avoid javascript.

Hence, maybe it's better that you pick your favorite PHP framework and take javascript framerwork that suits you. JQueary is a robust and light-weight framework that you can try.

Answer 10

There is also Akelos, it's a Rails clone, and it has Ajax support in a same way Rails would.

Answer 11

symfony provides helpers for javascript/ajax. A single php function will generally be enough to add the functionality required. Currently Prototype/Scriptaculous is the default/documented javascript framework for symfony, although jQuery is available as a plugin instead if required.

Version 1.2 of symfony may decouple Prototype more, allowing an open choice of javascript framework.

To write even less javascript, you could also try the Unobtrusive JavaScript plugin (which uses jQuery)

Answer 12

I just ran across Stratos, another PHP framework that has AJAX functionality built in. Has anyone used/heard of this before?

Answer 13

Zend Framework is awesome and really does speed up production. I am leading a team of PHP developers for an ecommerce company now, and it is what we are using to build out the back end tools. We use tons of the built in AJAX functionality, and it comes Dojo friendly right out of the box, but has methods to integrate the other popular JavaScript frameworks.

It's worth a serious look.

Answer 14

why no go to php frameworks,and have a look the compare list.

Answer 15

xajax is by far the best solution for what you're looking for (avoiding javascript) you can directly start using 0.5 rc2 (going final soon) - it's great, i'm using it in several production environments since 0.5 beta 2 and it works great

Answer 16

Code igniter the best framework - you can easily include some ajax libraries like Jquery, and Prototype or you can build your own ajax libraries

Answer 17

http://codeigniter.com/

Answer 18

http://www.yiiframework.com

Answer 19

Hi,

For the last twelve months, I’ve been developing NOLOH PHP/Ajax applications with all the client-side effects, automated state-management, XHR etc. without writing a single line of Javascript.

Head over to http://www.noloh.com/ and take a look for yourself.

Thank You

Answer 20

I would recommend my own framework, PHP On Pie, which takes a uniquely PHP-like approach to things:

http://phponpie.com

One of its features is that when you make a request via AJAX, you can also ask for a bunch of "slots" to be filled in the response. These slots may contain HTML to be inserted, or some result. It also automatically takes care of timestamps in both directions, so you can ignore responses that were sent later than the latest one you processed. (You can also do the same for requests, but it would require you to keep a session on the server.)

Regarding AJAX, it basically lets you use any library out there (e.g. jQuery) to do the actual AJAX requests and receive a response. Just check out the Pop.ajaxExtend function.

Answer 21

Check Prado out: http://www.pradosoft.com/

Answer 22

You would hate this if it weren't wrapped in a code block.

Answer 23

Symfony with sfJqueryReloaded Plugin is very Easy , but doesnt have enough Widgets like Grid , ColorPicker etc etc. You dont have Simple Form Vaidation :) You can ofcourse integrate 3rd Party jQuery Plugins.

For One Stop Solution , Use ZendFramework with Zend_Dojo DOJO Helper. DOJO has all the Widgets in One Pack so you dont have to search for Validatin,Grdi,ColorPicker,Charts Plugins