You have option to choose from a myriad of frameworks according to precise needs of individual web development projects. The usage statistics posted on several websites depict that CakePHP is one of most widely used PHP frameworks. Like other PHP frameworks, CakePHP is also written in PHP. But it is designed based on core concepts of Ruby on Rails (RoR). As an open source framework, CakePHP helps you to reduce web application development cost significantly. Also, it accelerates development of custom web applications by providing a variety of built-in functionalities.
Why You Must Consider CakePHP for Your Next Website Development Project?
Supports PHP 7
CakePHP enables you to write web applications in PHP 7. You can write web application in PHP 7 to avail a number of new language features, along with improved speed and reduced resource consumption. PHP 7 further helps you to prevent user abandonment and increase search engine visibility by making the website load faster.
Keeps the Codebase Concise
CakePHP does not require you to write additional code. It comes with features to keep the source code of websites concise and maintainable. It accelerates web application prototype creation by providing code generation and scaffolding features. At the same time, CakePHP also allows you to reuse the existing code across different projects.
Supports MVC Programming Paradigm
Like other modern web frameworks, CakePHP also supports model-view-controller (MVC) pattern. You can take advantage of MVC architecture to simplify and speed up development of large websites by keeping their user interface and business logic layers separates. Also, you can access, insert, and update data in the database seamlessly without affecting content display and presentation.
Keeps the Configuration Simple and Minimalist
Unlike other PHP frameworks, CakePHP has a simple installation and configuration process. It has the capability to detect and configure the required setting automatically. Hence, you can start developing websites with CakePHP without dealing with complex configuration. However, you need to configure and set up the database before writing code. Once the database is configured, CakePHP will configure the required setting automatically.
Provides a Flexible ORM System
The latest version of CakePHP comes with an object-relational mapper (ORM) system. Despite borrowing features from similar tools, the ORM is simple and flexible. It accelerates query building by providing a fluent interface. Also, it supports composite primary key, data post-processing, and eager loading strategies. The ORM system makes it easier for you to work with various databases and perform database operations.
Improves Routing Performance
CakePHP 3 improves routing performance significantly using reverse routing technique. You can take advantage of reverse routing technique to convert a set of parameters into a single URL string. Also, you can use the URL string to refactor and implement the URL structure without modifying the code. The ORM system further uses advanced routing techniques to parse and dispatch routes quickly without impacting the routing performance.
Provides Built-in Batteries
The built-in batteries provided by CakePHP enable you to accomplish common web development tasks without writing additional code. You have option to choose from a variety of built-in batteries according to your precise needs. These batteries are also embedded seamlessly into the PHP framework. You can use specific batteries to accomplish common web development tasks like database access, caching implementation, translation, authentication and validation. The batteries included approach further makes it easier for you to deploy the website without putting extra time and effort.
Provides Built-in Security Tools
Each website nowadays is vulnerable to a variety of targeted security attacks. Often developers use third-party security tools to keep the website functional and prevent various security attacks. But CakePHP helps you to protect the website from common security threats like cross site scripting (XSS) attacks and SQL injection by providing built-in security tools. You can even use the security tools provided by CakePHP to validate input submitted by various users, and prevent web form tampering and Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF).
Facilitates Unit Testing
CakePHP accelerates web application testing by using PHPUnit as the default testing framework. You can take advantage of PHPUnit to test specific components and functionality of the website throughout the development process. However, the PHP framework requires you to use CakePHP either as a PHAR package or through composer. You can still use CakePHP to evaluate the components of the website consistently.
Open Source
As mentioned earlier, CakePHP is an open source framework. You can use PHP framework without paying any monthly fees. Also, you can customize and extend CakePHP by making changes to its PHP source code. CakePHP is also supported by a large and active community of CakePHP developers. You can avail assistance of the community to resolve web development issues and accelerate custom website development.
Keeps Evolving
Despite being an open source PHP framework, CakePHP has been evolving consistently. CakePHP 3 came with improved performance, components, helpers, session management, and ORM. Also, it simplified web application development by unifying themes and plug-ins. Likewise, CakePHP 3.5.0 comes with new middleware, new cookie objects, and improved console environment. Hence, you can always accelerate custom web application development using the latest version of CakePHP.
On the whole, you can take advantage of the built-in functionality provided by CakePHP to create websites according to varying business requirements. But you must remember that the web framework has its own pros and cons. For instance, you must be proficient in PHP to use and customize the web framework efficiently. But CakePHP has been evolving consistently to meet the emerging trends in web application development.
