Review of PHP CodeIgniter Framework

“The new era web service applications are designed on a modern platform for better accessibility and code integration: It is known as Model- View- Design pattern or simply MVC. The same, we can find from PHP CodeIgniter platform. As the name suggests, there are 3 components and they are separated from each other by a virtual yet effective screen. It keeps the View i.e. the user interface absolutely isolated from the core logic. The View and the logic are controlled by an intermediate Controller. The Model consist of the core logic, database and rules of the application and it provides the relevant contents to the View i.e. Browser after the instruction of the Controller. By this process, the MVC architecture helps in keeping every aspect of the application safe and secured and most importantly in a systematic manner. Let’s have a glance over the CodeIgniter framework”. 

Complete documentation for the user: Since, CodeIgniter is a framework developed on the MVC architecture; there are many components, libraries and functions available inside. In fact, the Model designs itself cumbersome. So, it becomes difficult for a developer to start writing code on the platform without any prior knowledge or in-depth knowledge of its components. To make the things easier CodeIgniter provides a complete documentation for all its components and features. As a smart web developer, you should go through each and every page of the documentation so as to make the best use of the framework. The documentation works like a user guide and hence it is extremely useful from the developer’s point of view. It has various indexes like MVC basics, Routing basics, Form validation, Performance improvement etc and these are extremely important in developing an enterprise standard web solution. It is always recommended to learn the documentation along with a corporate training for improved productivity of the developer. 

Installation will not take more time or effort: CodeIgniter is a web application framework developed in PHP and enables PHP web developers in building reliable yet faster web solutions without much hassle. To getting started with CodeIgniter, one needs to install the framework on the server. For the same, you need to download the software and unzip the package from internet. Now you have to upload all the folders and files to the server on which you are suppose to work on. You can also use encryption or sessions by setting encryption key. The process is very simple and it doesn’t require any hard effort from the developer. Once you configure CodeIgniter you can start coding from the index.php page. 

Advanced features have made it to sustain in the industry for years: There are many advanced and effective features that CodeIgniter possesses for designing high quality web applications. The most important feature of CodeIgniter is its MVC Architecture, which is extremely helpful in creating complex web applications in less time and with more accuracy. CodeIgniter is extremely light weight and hence it can help you in building light weight web applications that will definitely load faster on the browser especially when we are considering modern browsers for smart phones and tablets etc. CodeIgniter has an inbuilt form and data validation feature that eliminates the unnecessary effort that is being given by the developer in other platforms. It has FTP class and File Uploading class for manipulation of files in the application server. The enhanced full page caching features can definitely help in improving the performance of the application and hence user experience. It has other features like Active Record Database Support, Session Management, Error logging and Calendaring class etc. 

SEO with CodeIgniter: Search engine optimisation is the most important feature of any web framework and it is now a must for every framework. Just like other PHP frameworks i.e., WordPress, Joomla etc, CodeIgniter also possess a search engine optimisation tool to make the PHP website well visible on Google. The search engine optimisation process starts with the title of the page and the search engine friendly URL. CodeIgniter has support for creating search engine friendly URLs along with other SEO features like key word density calculation, URL routing and SEO analysis etc. The URL routing or rewriting technique helps in improving page ranking in the search engine for better visibility of your website. 

Ease of Use for CI developers: A framework can’t sustain for a decade in the industry without any potential. CodeIgniter has already proved its potential with awesome features and of course easy to use developer interface. The developer interface of CodeIgniter is extremely easy to understand i.e. a beginner can start coding on the platform without much hassle. Different components of the framework can easily be integrated to the application for enhanced productivity. It has many templates available for the CodeIgniter developer so that he can start developing web pages easily with the templates that are already made available for the developers. 

Migration process is not a headache for you: Migration is something used for the improvement of your application with more optimised classes and data query. In web application development process it is extremely important for any business to be up to date with time in order to provide better customer support for your service or product. In CodeIgniter, the developer is allowed to manage his database schema for different environments and platform. The developer needn’t to manually run the MySQL queries for this process rather it can be done from within the platform itself. The best part is that it also provides scope for the CodeIgniter developer to reverse or role back of the migration process if found any issues during the migration. With CodeIgniter you can track all the versions of your database changes just like versioning of files as we use git i.e., we can go back or forward easily to a different DB version as per our requirement and as when we need it. 

Flexibility and customization is really a wonderful feature: A framework is usually having some optional features that can be achieved for your application with the integration of plug-ins, themes etc. CodeIgniter developers are allowed to integrate various open source plug-ins developed in PHP or jQuery to make the website more feature loaded and attractive. A PHP developer can customise his web application through different plug-ins and components for enhanced user experience. On the other hand, it also helps in extending the functionality of the application without any high effort due to availability of source code from CodeIgniter expert community. 

Nevertheless to say, CodeIgniter has an amazing track record of more than a decade and how this is possible we can easily guess from above discussions. 

At Mindfire Solutions, we have dedicated developer teams for almost all major PHP Frameworks. We have been providing expert PHP development services to our clients for more than 10 years now and have executed over 100 projects in various PHP and PHP Frameworks. Please feel free to contact us if you have any custom application development requirement, our senior CakePHP, zend, CodeIgniter, Symfony developers will love to assist you in your requirement.

Positives of hiring a PHP development company for web development

A reliable PHP development farm can help you in quality output: If you are considering hiring a PHP development farm for your next web application project then you are going to take a good decision. When you out source your application development to a reliable software farm from a well known region like India, you will get a lots of perks during the development process. The best part is they have expert teams of PHP developers in their company that will definitely help you in getting an awesome product at the end of the project. The experience and expertise of those PHP developers can help you in getting a reliable and prominent website for your users. The website being developed by expert PHP developers will definitely be not only efficient but also optimised and interactive.

Well, PHP is extremely cost effective for web development process: If you decide to make the development process within your premises then you have to incur lots of costs in different forms like infrastructure cost, developers cost, tester’s wages and maintenance cost for your development process. Though at no point of time, all of these resources will work for your web development process, but you have to pay for them continuously. On the contrary, if you hire a PHP development farm for this purpose, they can help you in saving a good amount of investments for your business. The infrastructure cost will tense to zero and the other costs will decrease drastically up to 60 to 70% depending upon the currency difference between yours and that of the web development farm.

They can assist you in every possible way: Well, once you hire a PHP team from a reliable software farm, they will take all the responsibility for your application development. Well, they have experts in PHP to foresee any unexpected situation from before so that it can help you in avoiding those situations. Moreover, if that type of complex situation arises, they have the potential to tackle it efficiently. Their expertise and experience will help your application to be under safe position. To add this, their suggestions will work like a boon and it will definitely help you to come out from any unfavourable situation. They can also assist you in many possible ways so that you can get some useful tips that can help you in growing your business.

No fear for support: When you are choosing a reliable PHP development company for your next project, we need not to worry about the support. They will provide you all the industry standard support facility to your application. Moreover, they will not only work for your prestige and reputation in the industry; but at the same time, they will also work hard to save their market value in the industry. They are always quality hunger so that they can get different Certifications on quality service provider in the industry. So, they will work day and night for the same purpose.

You can get in touch with a PHP development company who can help you build web projects within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide PHP development services. If you would like to hire PHP developers for your web development needs, please contact us Mindfire Solutions.

Developing your e-Commerce app with PHP - Is it good

Why PHP: PHP has a good reputation in the industry as a cost cutter technology. It is an open source language that enables the web developers to create advanced web applications without much headache for the development cost. Hence there are many large scale web applications build in PHP, that are not only popular but also having a good user response. The number of websites being developed in PHP is increasing at a rapid tempo with time. In the initial phase of PHP, it was used to develop common websites that are not heavy in size or functionality; but with time due to introduction of many PHP frameworks in the industry, PHP developers get inspired to build enterprise standard web applications for almost all sectors including e-commerce websites or web apps. In past few years, we have seen many e-commerce applications being developed in PHP for different platforms like Android, iOS and Windows etc.

PHP is cost effective: Due to open source in nature and huge availability of resources PHP developers are getting more than enough support from the industry. As a result, the process of web application development is getting easier with time and this impacts the development cost for the client. Moreover, with the availability of many PHP frameworks in the industry it becomes even easier to develop web apps for smart phones and tablets. The future relies on smart devices and fortunately PHP developers have the potential to develop e-commerce apps for these smart devices within budget.

You can rely on PHP for an e-commerce web application: There was a time when all the e-commerce websites were being developed in java or .net. With time, PHP has reinvented itself to adopt all the security measures that we need to develop an e-commerce app. Now a PHP developer can build enterprise standard e-commerce app for the users with much more efficiency and within budget. Moreover all the major payment gateways are now providing direct support to integrate the gateway to the merchant website which is developed in PHP. Payment gateways like CCAvenue, PayPal etc provides support for PHP websites to integrate their payment gateway to the app.

You can get all modern amenities under PHP within your budget: HTML5, CSS3 and JQuery are the three pillars of success for any modern web app; and PHP supports all these amenities. As a PHP developer you can build an interactive and super smooth e-commerce app for your users using these technologies that will definitely attract all users irrespective of platforms. Moreover your e-commerce app can get the essence of dynamic web pages through PHP and AJAX that will definitely improve the user experience.

PHP has a strong support community: As an e-commerce PHP app developer you may need support for any unexpected situations during the development process. But you don’t need to bother much about that; because, PHP is well backed with a strong support developer’s community that can help you in any emergency situation and that too 24x7 hours. So what are you waiting for? Start building your first PHP based e-commerce web app for any of your favourite platform.

You can get in touch with a PHP development company who can help you build web projects within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide PHP web development services. If you would like to hire PHP programmers for your web development needs, please contact us Mindfire Solutions.

Ladder - Things to know about this PHP database migration tool

Are you developing an app without any support from framework in PHP? PHP is a web language which is extremely reliable and popular in the industry. PHP is an open source language and hence there is a tremendous support for PHP developers from the community. When PHP combines with MySQL it becomes a deadly combo for the web developer because he can develop any type and size of web application. Moreover, there are many frameworks available in PHP like cake PHP, zend and laravel etc. These frameworks make the life of the PHP developer much easier with their hilarious features. It helps in keeping track of all types of activities of the developer during the development process. On the other hand, if a PHP project is developed without the support from a framework then the PHP developer will miss the advantages that he would have gained from the framework. In this situation he should take the help of a third party data base migration tool to keep track of each and every activities of the web developer.

Why Database migration tool (Ladder)? When a team of web developers work on a PHP development project without any support from frameworks, there is a chance of data incompatibility among the developers. Sometimes at the middle of the project, we find it necessary to change the schema of a table in the database. In that situation it becomes very difficult to modify the table with all precautions. Moreover while modifying the schema it is necessary to consider the version of the application in order to avoid the compatibility issue. Moreover if one of the team members alters the configuration of the database then it should be visible to all other members and the process should be performed keeping all the versioning issue in mind; because this may lead to crash of the application if a synchronisation is not made among the programs. To avoid this issue a PHP developer should use something just like a SVN to keep track of all the activities of the team members who deal with sensitive data of the database. Ladder is one such database migration tool for PHP and MySQL to keep track of all the database changes made by the developer with detailed information like data and time of modification and it will also prevent unethical modification of the database. It also helps in comparing different modification versions of the database so that in future the PHP developer will not face any trouble while dealing with debugging process of the application.

Importance of Ladder: Ladder is a database migration tool that can help the web developer in creating, running and managing database migration in PHP environment. It is nothing but a PHP class, which has the capability to keep track of all the modification versions on your database. Moreover, it provides support to modify multiple database schemas in an application in one take. Well, though it is instructed to perform multiple modifications in one take; but, it performs the tasks in multiple steps. Moreover, it performs the migration or modification in a sequential manner so that there will be no redundancy error in future.

If you would like to hire PHP developers from a custom PHP development company for your development needs, please visit Mindfire Solutions.

Symfony framework for developers - Is it good for development?

There are a number of frameworks that are available in the market today which the developers can use to create applications at a faster pace. Symfony is one such framework that can be used to achieve this end. However, the developers are mostly unaware of its benefits that can be utilized well in developing effective solutions.

Faster and requires less memory

This is one of the benefits owing to which the developers should prefer Symfony2. From the very start it was conceived as a framework that would be fast and deliver highly effective performance. Besides delivering faster solutions, Symfony also demands less memory space.

Adaptability

The flexibility that it offers is outstanding. No matter what the developers require, Symfony can be adapted for all kinds of requirements. The dependency injector and Event Dispatcher enable it to be completely configurable where each of the bricks is entirely independent. Thus, a developer can build the framework depending on the functionalities required. Secondly, it can also be used to develop a particular functionality in a project. There is no need to develop anything or install the whole network. All the developers need is a single brick. Permanence is another factor why it is used. The company that offers Symfony is its biggest support. In addition, an impressive community has also developed around it along with various service companies investing in the framework.

Expandability

Right from the smallest brick to a whole core – herein everything is presented as a bundle or plug-in. each of this bundle is expected to add a separate functionality. These can also be reused in another project or be allowed to be shared with the rest of the community. These bundles help in altering everything within the framework. This also includes the core. Without any need for an entire configuration, the behavior of the framework can be altered.

Pro-testing framework

For unit testing this is one of the most suitable tools. It is testing-prone which makes it quite easy for isolating classes, mocking objects and injecting stub dependencies.

Perfect for complicated web applications

There is an extensive cache system in Symfony. This is easy to configure for both a new user and a PHP expert. What is important here is to decide about the size of the project. If you are developing a project of 10 pages, there is no need to employ a framework. But for the complex web applications, using PHP is not adequate. In this regard, the Symfony would be of great use.

Stable and Sustainable

Most of the major versions of this framework are supported for a span of 3 years by the company that develops it. As far as security related issues are concerned, it gets lifelong support from the parent company. To ensure better security, there are minor versions available which ensure that the API is defined by public interfaces.

Provides a comfort level

It is a functional environment that also guarantees a comfort level to the developers. By dealing with various erroneous tasks, it allows the developers to shift their focus on the actual issues within the application and authenticate their roles and enhance the productivity. The Web Debug Toolbar simplifies the development process. This also helps the development environments, native security and detailed error pages.

Easy to use

Being accessible and tremendously flexible, it even allows the beginners to feel comfortable.

Innovation is the key

Symfony is always endeavoring to bring newness to PHP. In fact, it was the first major framework to accept PHP 5.3. It also introduced the use of Dependency Injection container and the usage of Twig. The latter was later adopted by the primary CMS-es, including, Drupal and eZpublish.

Owing to such benefits it has developed as a framework that is being widely used to build major websites. There are several well reputed companies that have adopted Symfony for building solutions. You can hire developers from custom PHP development company, who can help you build web apps within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide PHP application development services. If you would like to hire PHP developers for your web development needs, please contact us Mindfire Solutions.

PHP and Its Evolution over the Years

As a dynamic programming language, PHP can be used for both general programming and server-side scripting context. But PHP was originally not written by Rasmus Lerdorf as a new programming language. After designing the language to maintain his personal home page, Lerdorf subsequently extended it build simple and dynamic web pages. He publicly released "Personal Home Page/Forms Interpreter" or PHP/FI as "Personal Home Page Tools (PHP Tools) version 1.0". Since its first public release in April, 1996, PHP has been evolving over the years as a powerful and dynamic programming language.

Continuous Evolution of PHP as a Dynamic Programming Language

PHP/FI: It is the second-generation implementation of the programming language that provided a complete makeover to it. The implementation further converted PHP into an independent programming language from a set of tools. Along with supporting cookies and user-defined functions, PHP/FI also came with built-in support for several databases including mSQL, DBM and Postgres95.

PHP 2: The version 2.0 of PHP was released in June 1995. It is also a single and full version of PHP 2.0. When PHP 2.0 was released in November 1997, it came with a completely rewritten underlying parsing engine. The parsing engine also distinguished the commercial release from the earlier beta release.

PHP 3: The version 3.0 of the programming language closely resembles the modern PHP. PHP 3.0 was developed by the combined efforts of many developers across the world. The version was released officially after thorough open public testing. The release also made PHP installed on 10% of web servers across the world. It was further hosted on web servers running on Macintosh and different versions of Windows.

PHP 4.0: PHP 4.0 was designed with the objective to optimize the performance of complex applications. Along with making PHP’s code base more modular, the version 4.0 also supported a wide range of databases and third-party APIs. It was further made based on the new Zend engine. The engine and new features improved the programming language’s performance drastically. PHP 4.0 also supported additional web servers, output buffering, HTTP sessions, while handling user input more securely.

PHP 5.0: After several pre-releases, the version 5.0 of PHP was officially released in July 2004. Along with Zend 2.0, it came with a number of new features and significant improvements. Along with supporting XML, PHP 5.0 further allowed programmers to access and manipulate XML as PHP objects. At the same time, it also came with an improved MySQL extension called MySQLi that included an object oriented interface. It further enable programmers to create make Web Services more interoperable by using the built-in SOAP extension.

PHP 5.1: The version 5.1 of the programming language was released in November 2005 with a completely rewritten date handling code, improved time zone support, several built-in extensions, and bug fixes. By enabling PDO extensions, PHP 5.1 simplified and improved data handling.

PHP 5.2: PHP 5.2.0 was released in November 2006 with features to improve the performance of heavy-traffic websites. Along with more tracking memory usage more accurately and efficiently, the version 5.2.0 also came with a new memory manager for the Zend Engine. It also came with a number of new features including ZIP extension, JSON extension, input filtering, date and time objects, and hooks for tracking the progress of file uploads.

PHP 5.3: The earlier versions of PHP were lacking the better object model required by complex application. So the version 5.3 of PHP was designed with improved object oriented programming. Along with several new extensions and optimal garbage collection for cyclic references, PHP 5.3 also supported namespaces, closures, late static binding and similar concepts related to object oriented programming.

PHP 5.4: As a major version of the programming language, PHP 5.4 was released in March 2012. Along with over 100 bug fixes, it came with new features like shortened array syntax, traits and built-in web server for application testing. At the same time, the version also introduced optimized performance and memory footprint.

PHP 5.5: The version 5.5 of PHP was released in June 2013. It introduced several new features including finally keyword, support for constant array/string dereferencing, simplified password hashing API, generators and coroutines, and support for list() constructs in foreach statements.

According to several reports, a new major version of the programming language called PHP7 is under development. The next version of PHP aims to optimize its performance by refactoring the Zend framework, while retaining its language compatibility. You can hire PHP developers from PHP development company for your web development needs, who can help you build web apps within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide custom PHP development services. If you would like to hire developers or would like to discuss with our developers about your projects, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

PHP Functions - List and Their Usage

PHP comes up with a string of internal or built-in functions which are all used in certain situations to fulfill certain conditions, by simply passing certain values against them. To be frank, the scripting language comes up with nearly 3000 embedded functions. Hence, it is quite impossible to discuss all of them. The language comes up with a manual, which includes a comprehensive documentation of each of them along with example code. Besides, the manual also provides a feature containing the user comments that provide valuable tips to the users. It also comes up with discussions of some common problems that are generally faced by users and documented solutions of the same. There is also a short cut to get to the manual page quickly.

PHP editors generally have the expertise of showing the built-in functions and they use a different color so that the users know that they are built-in ones.

Let us, in this article discuss some of the most important PHP functions and their usage in a comprehensive way.

Functions that define Arbitrary number of arguments

One of the most significant features of PHP is that it provides the option of defining the functions with various optional arguments. However, there is yet another option that completely allows an arbitrary number of functional arguments.

There are a number of PHP functions that come with long as well as descriptive names. Therefore, whenever it is needed to call for a particular function, it becomes really hard to name it, unless and until the user is somewhat familiar with the term and its functionality from any other source.

Glob()

This particular function is used for searching out any pre designated file or files from the database. Technically speaking, this function returns an array or a string of filenames as well as directories by matching them in accordance to a pre medicated or specified pattern. It also returns FALSE on failure to do so.

Actually, it is a more advanced or capable edition or the scandir() that also searches files by using a definite pattern.

MIU or Memory Usage Information

memory-get-usage()

PHP comes up with a typical garbage collector along with a memory manager that is pretty complex in structure as well as functionality. Hence, the amount or extent of memory that is used in a particular script can fluctuate when the script in question is being executed. Hence, the function ‘memory-get-usage()’ can be used to collect the extent of current memory usage at any given point in time.

memory-get_usage()

This particular function is used for getting the highest memory value that is used at any point in time.

Information for CPU Usage

getrusage()

This is another function that is designed to return an associative array that contains data that is returned from a system call. All the entries associated with this function are accessible with the use of their associated documented field names.

Magic Constants

PHP also features eight ‘magic constants’ that are pretty useful, especially when it comes to fetching the current number of the line, current file path, directory path, current trait, the name of the function called, name of the class, method name and the namespace.

These are actually some predefined constants for any script that it runs. Majority of these 8 constants comes up with various extensions and cane used only when those particular extensions are available, either through the process of dynamic loading or simply because they have been assembled or compiled in the script in question. Hence, from that point of view, these constants can well be termed as functions.

Generation of unique IDs

There are instances that demand generation of a string that is absolutely unique. For this the md5() can be used, though this particular function was not developed for this reason. However, even though the strings are ideally unique, they at times come up with first few characters that are similar to other strings, mainly because these strings are all related to server time. Hence, in order to minimize the chance of duplication, a prefix can be passed or created and the second parameter can be added to increase the entropy.

serialize() and unserialize()

As and when the need of storing a complex variable in a text file or a database arises, there is no requirement of converting the objects or arrays into formatted strings. PHP comes up with a couple of extremely valuable functions – ‘serialize()’ and ‘unserialize()’ that serialize the variables or revert the serialization if and when needed.

String Compression

gzcompress() and gzuncompress()

Generally ‘zip’ option is used for file compression. However, when it comes to compressing or decompressing loose strings in PHP, the two functions - gzcompress() and gzuncompress() can be used respectively.

As mentioned at the start of this article, there are innumerable functions that PHP is equipped with. However, these are some of the most popular, useful as well as widely used functions that make the life of the developers easier.You can get in touch with a php development company in India who can help you build web apps within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide php application development services. If you would like to hire certified php developer for your development needs, Please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

PHP to Develop an E-Commerce Site - Should We Go Ahead or Not?

The right ecommerce site can make a huge difference to any business. In addition to increasing online sales and revenues, the website will further help the business in retaining valuable customers. That is why; enterprises often find it daunting to choose the right platform to gauge their business online. If you are exploring options to build your ecommerce website, it is a great idea to choose PHP.

Like other programming languages, PHP is also effective in optimizing your website’s look, feel and performance. But the technology allows you complete the project rapidly by availing navigational tools, content management systems, libraries and extensions. At the same time, you also have option to choose from widely used PHP ecommerce frameworks like Magento, X-Cart, osCommerce and Zen Cart to create and run your online store without putting any extra time and effort.

Why Use PHP Frameworks to Develop an E-Commerce Site

Add Unlimited Items and Catalogs: Once you create the ecommerce site, it has to be updated frequently to include new products and catalogs. The PHP frameworks make it easier for you to add as many catalogs you want without any hassle. Thus, the existing product list can be updated frequently to complement the expansion or growth of your online store.

Add Many Manufacturers and Brands: There are also chances that your web store has to deal with products launched by different manufacturers or under different brands. So the website needs to be updated to showcase all these brands. The widely used PHP frameworks allow you to add new manufacturers and brands without any restriction.

Support for Multiple Currencies: The web store allows you to sell products to customers residing in different countries and regions. So you have to look for a payment system that supports multiple currencies. In addition to allowing customers to see the price of a product in a specific currency, the website must allow them to pay in their own currency. The PHP frameworks enable you to add multiple currencies to the online shop. As the customers have option to pay without any hassle, the website will help in increasing your online sales.

Integrate Major Payment Gateway: To optimize the performance of your online store, you have to use one of the most widely used and popular payment gateways and online payment processor. PHP frameworks make it easier to integrate third-party applications to the website. Thus, you can always deliver richer user experience by incorporating a widely used payment gateways and online payment processing system.

Administrator Panel: An ecommerce website also needs to be updated frequently to manage both product listing and prices. So you have to explore ways to administer the web store without deploying a fulltime website admin. The PHP frameworks make it easier for you to manage the product listing and prices through an easy-to-use admin panel. The admin panel can be further customized by the developer according to the way you want to manage the ecommerce website.

Option to Post Customer Reviews: You can always enhance the credibility and reputation of your web store by allowing customers to post reviews and comments. The product reviews and ratings can be displayed on your website to gain the trust of new customers. The PHP frameworks make it easier for you to allow customers to post reviews, and showcase the reviews to new customers to gain their trust.

PHP Online Forum: While creating an ecommerce site with PHP, a developer can avail assistance from several PHP web development forums. As the technology is used widely to create ecommerce portals, the developer can avail relevant help to complete the project rapidly. At the same time, the website administrators can use PHP scripts to monitor the activities of website visitors, and take relevant action to convert them into customers.

Unlike other technologies, PHP is both open source and free. Further, you have option to create the ecommerce portal by using a number of open source PHP frameworks. Thus, PHP will further make it easier for your business to launch and run a web store without investing a lot of money.

We provide php website development services. If you would like to hire php programmer for your web development needs, please contact us Mindfire Solutions.

Is Cake PHP the need of the hour?

Presently, one of the most demanded frameworks is CakePHP that offers integrated web solutions for PHP development environment. This framework is being extensively used by both big as well as small web development companies. It is thus immensely popular as well as full of advantages which have prompted so many people to adopt it. The framework has useful features for developers as well as clients. Some of the benefits are given here that illustrate why CakePHP has become the need of the hour.

ORM- The programming technique called Object Relational Mapping is used for conversion of data between object-oriented programming languages and incompatible type systems located in databases. This essentially means that every class represents a table and relations can be defined in the classes between other tables along with defining validation and predefining particular callbacks especially for the table. The classes as well as table can be managed in an easier way.

MVCEnvironment- The framework is a three-tier architecture that is properly defined and aids developers to work better. The patterns make separating logic and presentation very easy which further helps in case of large sites as well as applications. With the logic kept separate page presentation is easily performed.

Supports diverse technologies- The huge technical area of web development involves several available technologies so that solutions can be availed. In fact so many available technologies make it difficult for the developers to integrate several technologies with each other. Various programming languages and diverse technologies are supported by it. In fact, it may be easily extended with helpers, components, plug-ins as well as behaviours. This is again very important since partially reusable codes are created which may be used later on in some other project as well. The helpers, components, plug-ins as well as behaviours can be placed with special functionality so that the projects may be modularized.

Directorystructure- The framework has a comprehensive directory structure which makes it really easy to locate whatever the developers want. This task can be done without even touching any unnecessary configuration files. The task of web development becomes quite easy, ultimately leading to faster completion of development solution.

Properclassinheritance- Each project consists of two primary folders- one is core lib/cake/ which works as if peep show while the second is application specific one/app/. The inheritance of CakePHP is quite understandable as well as sensible. Empty AppController class can be extended by every Application specific controller; some extra logic may be extended or some core functions may be predefined so that the action is exactly like the one needed.

Debuggingandtestingtools- There are several high-quality debugging as well as testing tools. In fact tests can be created to check the various critical points of an application. There are both custom tests as well as core tests which become really handy while building large applications.

Zeroconfigurations- Configuration problems are now a thing of the past with CakePHP since the framework works without any configurations. The auto removed settings and features enable developers to work without having to configure additional settings except from features of database connection.

Secureframework- The framework falls in the category of one of the most secure as well as robust web solutions. High quality web solutions can be had and that too securely. The future products will also get the proper authorization.

Build in validation- This feature enables developers to attach several advanced validation rules to a single field.

These are only a few of the benefits offered by Cake PHP. This is actually a very useful framework, making it a great option for businesses as well as developers. Compelling and unique applications can be developed so that companies can establish a better as well as stronger web presence. Thus, Cake PHP needs a complete understanding so that better advantage can be taken of the capabilities offered. You can get in touch with a php development company who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

If you would like to discuss with one of our certified php developer about your php development projects, please contact us Mindfire Solutions.