Pros and Cons of CakePHP - The Complete List

CakePHP is hugely popular among web programmers due to its effectiveness in making web application development faster and simples. The open source PHP framework further enables developers to create modern internet apps without writing longer lines of code. Despite being written in PHP, CakePHP follows several concepts of Ruby on Rails. At the same time, it also supports web development for both PHP4 and PHP5, along with several software engineering concepts. However, you still need to consider the pros and cons of CakePHP, if you are planning to use it for building your next internet applications.

Major Advantages

• CakePHP supports several widely used software development models including Model-View-Controller (MVC). So developers can use the MVC pattern to keep the business logic and interface separate. The separation makes it easier programmers to simultaneously work on different models. Further, they can easily maintain and update the large web applications without working from the scratch.
• The code generation and scaffolding feature of CakePHP enables programmers to rapidly create prototypes and reusable code. The code reusability makes developers more productive, while reducing the overall development time. Further, they can rapidly create new PHP applications by reusing the existing code for different projects.
• Unlike other PHP development frameworks, CakePHP does not require programmers to use complex XML or YAML files. They can simply setup the database, and start application development. Also, the framework effectuates database management by automating the features. The programmers can further use the built-in validation and authentication functionality of CakePHP to avoid writing additional code.
• CakePHP also comes with a templating system that is both fast and flexible. It further allows programmers to enhance the application’s look and feel by creating custom templates. Some developers even help enterprises in designing tailor-made custom CakePHP templates within a shorter amount of time.
• Many developers find it daunting to work with standard PHP classes. While dealing with different classes, CakePHP allows programmers to directly access Core and App directories. So it becomes easier for them to define the functions of each class in a much simpler way.
• In comparison to other PHP frameworks, CakePHP comes with more innovative built-in tools to make the web applications safe and secure. The programmers can use the built-in tools to prevent SQL injection and cross site scripting (XSS) attacks. Also, the tools help developers to validate user input, and prevent form tampering and CSRF.

Significant Disadvantages

• Many users feel that documentation of CakePHP is inadequate and needs improvement. Despite being a simple and easy-to-learn, CakePHP is considered to be more complex than other PHP frameworks like CodeIgniter. So the developers have to invest both time and effort to learn various aspects of CakePHP.
• Unlike other PHP frameworks like Symfony, CakePHP does not support default routes for Fancy URLs. So while crating Fancy URLs, programmers are required to update the default routes. The feature adversely affects the efficiency of CakePHP for modern web application development.
• Some users have also highlighted the difficulties in migrating from version 2.x to 3.x of CakePHP. To become faster, CakePHP 3 does not support a number of backwards compatible changes. That is why; web programmers cannot easily switch their existing applications to the updated version of the PHP framework. However, the developers can directly use CakePHP 3 to develop applications with the new features.

Despite these limitations, CakePHP still complements the latest trends in web development. As it is an open source web application development framework, it can be used by both small and large businesses to rapidly create commercial PHP applications. However, you must not forget evaluate the pros and cons of CakePHP according to the nature and requirements of your next internet application. You can hire developers from top PHP development company India who can help you build projects within allocated budgets and time schedules.

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