Laravel4 vs. Symfony2

Which one to choose?

Created by Tautvilas Mečinskas

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2013 10

Why this talk?

Framework choice matters.

About me

• First php program 10 years ago
• Since then developed in PHP, Java, Python and Javascript
• For the Last 2 years developed mainly in PHP
• Used mainly laravel3/4 and symfony2.0-2.3 in client projects

Laravel

• Appeared in June 2011
• Laravel4 released in May 2013
• Laravel4 is not much different from Laravel3
• Created by Taylor Otwell
• Sponsored by several companies
• 152 contributors on github & ~2500 commits

Symfony

• Appeared in October 2005
• Symfony2 released in July 2011
• Symfony2 is completely different from Symfony
• Created by Fabien Potencier
• Developed by Sensio Labs
• 771 contributors on github & 10,000+ commits

Laravel4 and Symfony2 similarities

• PHP 5.3 frameworks for web applications
• Dependencies managed with Composer
• Laravel4 uses several Symfony2 core components
• Both have command-line tools
• Both use Dependency Injection

Installation

Laravel4:

composer create-project laravel/laravel --prefer-dist
                    

Symfony2:

composer create-project symfony/framework-standard-edition path/ 2.3.5
                    

Configuration

Laravel4

return array(
    'default' => 'mysql',
        'connections' => array(
            'mysql' => array(
            'driver'    => 'mysql',
            'host'      => 'localhost',
            'database'  => 'database',
            'username'  => 'root',
            'password'  => '',
        ),
    ),
);

Configuration

Symfony2

• YAML
• XML
• PHP
• INI
• Annotations

Configuration

Symfony2

Default: Yaml

parameters:
    database_driver: pdo_mysql
    database_host: 127.0.0.1
    database_port: null
    database_name: symfony
    database_user: root

Routing

Laravel4

Simple routes

Route::get('user/{name?}', function($name = null)
{
        return $name;
});
                    

Route::get('user/profile', array('uses' => 'UserController@showProfile'));
                    

Routing

Laravel4

RESTful Controller

class UserController extends BaseController {
    public function getIndex()
    {
        //
    }

    public function postProfile()
    {
        //
    }
}

Route::controller('users', 'UserController');
                     

Routing

Symfony2

There are many ways...

• YAML
• XML
• PHP
• Annotations

Routing

Symfony2

YAML:

contact_process:
    path:     /contact
    defaults: { _controller: AcmeDemoBundle:Main:contactProcess }
    methods:  [POST]

Annotations:

/**
 * @Route("/", defaults={"id" = 1})
 * @Route("/{id}")
 */
public function showAction($id)
{
}

Security

Laravel4

if (Auth::attempt(array('email' => $email, 'password' => $password)))
{
    return Redirect::intended('dashboard');
}

Route::get('profile', array('before' => 'auth', function()
{
    // Only authenticated users may enter...
}));

No authorization (roles)

Security

Symfony2

Security

Symfony2

• Pretty complicated to setup
• Has roles and role inheritance
• Has firewalls
• You can use FosUserBundle (or other)

Templating

Laravel4:

• Blade templating language
• PHP templates

Symfony2:

• Twig templating language
• PHP templates

Templating

Twig vs Blade

• Twig has more features
• Twig does not allow php code inside template

It is possible to use twig inside Laravel4 using TwigBridge

It is possible to hook in other templating engines to Symfony2

Forms

Laravel4

• Easy to get working
• Implementation can get tedious
• No form data binding to entities

Forms

Symfony2

• Very powerful form theming
• You can automate everything
• Form data automatically bound to DB entities
• Sometimes hard/impossible to do it symfony way
• Steep learning curve
• Does not play nicely with AJAX forms

Forms

Symfony2

Ideal view will look like this:

{# src/Acme/TaskBundle/Resources/views/Default/new.html.twig #}
{% form_theme form 'AcmeTaskBundle:Form:fields.html.twig' %}

{{ form(form) }}

Ideal controller will look like this:

public function newAction(Request $request) {
    $task = new Task();
    $form = $this->createForm(new TaskType(), $task);
    $form->handleRequest($request);
    if ($form->isValid()) {
        $this->getEntityManager()->persist($task);
        $this->getEntityManager()->fulsh();
        return $this->redirect($this->generateUrl('task_success'));
    }
    return array('form'=>form->createView());
}

But it's not easy to get there...

Database

Laravel4

Homebrew solution:

• Plain PDO queries
• Query builder
• Eloquent ORM
• Migrations

Database

Symfony2

3rd party libraries Doctrine or Propel:

• Steeper learning curve
• More powerful
• Some fancy queries are impossible (Doctrine)
• Might limit your database design (Doctrine)

Performance

Laravel4 is a little faster than Symfony2

Benchmark by TechEmpower. Responses per second at 20 queries per request, Linux on i7

Laravel feels much faster (no app_dev.php)

Code style

Laravel4

• Global facades
• Imports not necessary
• Concise naming style

$name = Input::get('name', 'Sally');
                

Code style

Laravel4

• Global facades
• Imports not necessary
• Concise naming style

$name = Input::get('name', 'Sally');
                

Testability

Laravel4

public function getIndex()
{
    Event::fire('foo', array('name' => 'Dayle'));

    return 'All done!';
}
                

public function testGetIndex()
{
    Event::shouldReceive('fire')->once()->with('foo', array('name' => 'Dayle'));
    $this->call('GET', '/');
}
                

Code style

Symfony2

• Correct OO approach
• Imports everything, no globals
• Java-like verbose naming

$name = $this->getRequest()->get('name', 'Sally');
                

Code style

Symfony2

namespace CompanyX\UserBundle\Controller;

use FOS\UserBundle\Controller\RegistrationController as BaseController;
use FOS\UserBundle\Entity\UserManager;
use FOS\UserBundle\Form\Model\CheckPassword;
use FOS\UserBundle\Model\UserInterface;
use FOS\UserBundle\Model\UserManagerInterface;
use Imagine\Filter\Transformation;
use Imagine\Gd\Imagine;
use Imagine\Image\Box;
use CompanyX\MainBundle\Form\DataTransformer\StringToNumberTransformer;
use CompanyX\MainBundle\MpController;
use CompanyX\ReportBundle\ReportGenerator;
use CompanyX\UserBundle\Entity\RoleType;
use CompanyX\UserBundle\Entity\User;
use CompanyX\UserBundle\Entity\UserPeriod;
use CompanyX\UserBundle\Entity\UserSalary;
use CompanyX\UserBundle\Entity\UserSort;
use CompanyX\UserBundle\Form\Type\CredentialsForm;
use CompanyX\UserBundle\Form\Type\UserFormType;
use CompanyX\UserBundle\Form\Type\UserSalaryType;
use CompanyX\WorkBundle\DateUtils;
use PDOException;
use Sensio\Bundle\FrameworkExtraBundle\Configuration\Route;
use Sensio\Bundle\FrameworkExtraBundle\Configuration\Template;
use stdClass;
use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\Controller;
use Symfony\Component\Form\Exception\TransformationFailedException;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormError;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\RedirectResponse;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;
use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\Authentication\Token\UsernamePasswordToken;
use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\Exception\AccessDeniedException;

In conclusion

Choose the right tool for the job!

Thank you for your attention

P.S. wix.com is hiring :)

Questions?