Laravel vs. CakePHP – Which One is Suitable for Web App Development? Do you know? As per a report, of the top 1 million websites worldwide, 8,432 are built with Laravel.
Laravel is a free, open-source PHP web application framework with expressive, elegant syntax. CakePHP is an open-source web application framework for PHP that provides structure and features typical to most web applications.
Laravel and CakePHP are both excellent frameworks for developing modern websites, but they have some critical differences. In this blog, we’ll compare Laravel vs. CakePHP so you can decide which one will work best for your project.
Let’s Get Started…
What is Laravel?
Laravel is a free, open-source PHP web application framework with expressive, elegant syntax. It was introduced in 2011 by Taylor Otwell and has established itself as one of the most popular frameworks for developing websites in recent years.
It encourages the use of the MVC pattern and provides a loose coupling between your application’s various components. Laravel aims to make the web development process pleasant for developers of all levels, from novice to expert.
Key Features of Laravel
Laravel is a PHP framework that aims to increase the development speed for web applications. It provides several features and tools that allow you to develop complex web applications more efficiently. Some of these critical features are:
● Model View Controller
The Model View Controller is one of the main building blocks of model-driven web frameworks. Laravel keeps things separated, which leads to simpler and cleaner code in general.
Moreover, it follows the MVC pattern, and every one of them comes with various built-in functions to provide everything required for developing any application.
● Security
The Laravel framework’s security features are highly advanced and robust, making it the perfect choice for any web application. The framework utilizes hashed and salted password mechanisms to ensure one can not save a password in plain text in user databases.
Besides this, Laravel uses a hashing algorithm for creating encrypted passwords that are virtually unbreakable with today’s technology.
Furthermore, this PHP development framework utilizes SQL statements to protect against SQL injection attacks, another excellent way of defending your website from cyber threats.
● Illuminate Components
Laravel has many components that work with each other, and they are all open-sourced. So you can make use of them in any way that suits your needs – for example, by modifying the code or just using it as it is.
● Database Development
Laravel has a great ORM, making it easy to create and interact with databases without needing any knowledge of SQL code. It provides various tools for developers to use, like Eloquent as an abstracted ActiveRecord implementation or simple migrations system.
● Blade Templating Engine
Laravel includes the Blade templating engine, which provides a clean and straightforward template syntax; this makes it very easy to create presentable content for your web app.
● Routing
Laravel’s routing system makes it easy for developers to build complex applications with ease. The routing system is not as complicated to use compared with other frameworks. It is intuitive and more productive. Moreover, Laravel’s routing is robust and has many features not available in the CakePHP framework.
● Eloquent ORM
Eloquent ORM (Object Relational Mapper) is one of the most potent aspects of Laravel that CakePHP doesn’t offer. Eloquent allows developers to create database queries using PHP objects, which can be very useful for beginners.
It also has many drivers that enable developers to use Laravel with many different databases without needing any additional configuration.
Useful Tutorials Laravel provides an authentic source of learning known as Laracasts for beginners and experienced developers. Whether you are exploring a free video tutorial or a paid service, you can learn to utilize Laravel’s features.
What does Laravel offer over CakePHP?
● The first thing Laravel has over CakePHP is its expressive syntax and built-in features that make it easier to write robust code. CakePHP’s interface can be challenging for beginners, but Laravel provides an intuitive environment that simplifies the programming process. ● The second thing Laravel has over CakePHP is its support for beautiful, custom HTML templates that provide the ability to create a stunning website with ease. CakePHP does not offer this functionality, and Laravel delivers it out of the box. ● Laravel offers an expressive, fluent interface for managing your database connections, while CakePHP requires you to write long lines of code that can be difficult for beginners.
What is CakePHP? CakePHP is a free and open-source web application framework written in PHP. It provides a set of standard features for creating web applications with varying complexity, including an MVC architecture, form validation, and scaffolding.
It is one of the oldest frameworks available on the market today. Moreover, CakePHP’s primary goal is to make it easier for developers to create websites and other web applications by reducing the code needed.
Key Aspects of CakePHP
● MVC Pattern
The Model-View-Controller is a modern programming design that targets the needs of complicated projects. CakePHP will guide you on working with data efficiently, giving your business more time and resources so it can grow larger and faster than ever before.
● CRUD Scaffolding
CRUD Scaffolding is a great way to see what your app will look like before you invest time and money in building the final product. It helps create, modify, and update work as it gives complete control over production dynamics and the project’s outcome.
● Extend with Plug-ins
CakePHP is a powerful and user-friendly framework for building web applications. CakePHP developers can reuse code and build on existing facilities by extending programs with a wide range of new features available in the form of components, behaviors, helpers, and extensions.
● Built-in Validation
Built-in validation features like the flow of entities and methods allow developers to create an efficient development process.
● Security
CakePHP is the ultimate PHP framework for security. If you’re looking to protect your application, this secure environment has many built-in tools that will keep your app safe and sound from any malicious attack or data breach.
Moreover, It has many built-in tools for CSRF protection, input validation, SQL injection prevention, form tampering protection, and XSS prevention to keep all information safe within the system.
What does CakePHP offer over Laravel?
● The first thing that CakePHP offers over Laravel is its supportive community. CakePHP has a robust and mature community of users who can assist with any issues you might have, while Laravel lacks this. ● The second thing CakePHP offers over Laravel is its vital documentation. CakePHP has extensive and well-written documentation, which Laravel lacks. ● The third thing that CakePHP offers over Laravel is the ability to use PHPUnit for testing purposes. Laravel does not provide this ability.
After discussing the key aspects of both frameworks, let’s discuss the differences in tabular form.
Comparison Points to Consider
Laravel
CakePHP
CakePHP is best for small
Performance
Laravel is the most popular
data sets but not as
open-source and MVC
effective on bigger
platform that offers
projects. It can’t do
high-end performance for
binding procedures that
more significant projects.
come with Laravel
It includes a simple and
because Cake can’t
easy-to-learn syntax.
handle large datasets well.
Laravel uses a novel MVC pattern to run on joint Data
Architecture
binding. It is not tricky for
CakePHP does not offer
App activity, and it is
data binding and instead
well-suited when you want
utilizes an HMVC
an efficient solution that
architecture.
makes your website more responsive.
Performance testing is an indispensable part of any Laravel development Testing Performance
project. It ensures that the app doesn’t crash when it’s in use, leading to a better experience.
Data binding is not available in the CakePHP framework, so it’s less favored.
Data backups are not Laravel is an excellent choice for startups Backup
because it offers easy
nearly good enough for CakePHP, and this is why it is less desirable.
experience in managing data backups and other aspects of the business.
Laravel is a well-known PHP framework for web CakePHP has a more Routing
straightforward and more useful routing system than Laravel.
development that utilizes the joint binding procedure. It has some complexity and makes it less preferable when compared to CakePHP in terms of routing.
Which One to Choose: Laravel or CakePHP?
Since we have discussed the differences between CakePHP and Laravel. In detail, one could decipher that both are remarkable web frameworks. But they have their strengths.
CakePHP is a more mature framework that offers an extensive community of users to support you with questions you may be having. It also has a robust documentation system that will guide you through every step of building your site or application.
On the other hand, Laravel is newer than CakePHP, and it has an elegant syntax that makes programming easier and faster. Plus, it provides beautiful HTML templates without needing to use third-party software. So, now you can choose either of these as per the project requirements, budget estimation, and timeline.
If you want to stand in queue with those who have benefited a lot by integrating Laravel, you must get in touch with the best Laravel development company.