The photo doesn’t have much to do with a framework, but I searched for "Symfony" on Unsplash, and it was the only one 😅... anyway, back to the point...
Today we’re going to talk about an important topic in the world of programming and web development: the importance of using a framework, specifically Symfony in our case, but there are thousands for every language, and how this positively impacts our projects and, in our case, our clients.
Quick Summary (TL;DR)
A framework is a skeleton that gives us a basic structure to start our projects with some basic modules or blocks. It also gives us structure to develop our code so our application can grow well. This part of the structure, this guide on how to develop our projects is, together with the components that already exist, what will differentiate one framework from another. Although we will surely make a comparison at another time, but classically there are two different types of frameworks:
- Lightweight, very focused on having the skeleton as minimal as possible to build on, they are usually fast but more oriented to small websites and not to very complex applications. Examples of these frameworks in the case of PHP would be Codeigniter and Slim.
- Business-oriented, more oriented towards robustness, a powerful component structure that allows us to create complex and scalable applications. Examples in PHP would be Symfony and Laravel.
This doesn't mean that you can't develop a complex web application with Codeigniter or a simple one with Symfony, but that's not what they're designed for out of the box and at some point it will show.
I'll tell you a little more about Symfony
Symfony is a framework known for its robustness and is commonly used in enterprise applications where scalability and performance are critical. Furthermore, one of Symfony's greatest strengths is its modularity. With its system of components and bundles, it allows for great flexibility in building everything from small microservices to large enterprise applications. We'll talk more about bundles later.
Advantages for our projects
Accelerated Development
Nowadays, when everything moves so fast, being able to more quickly develop the functionalities that our clients or projects need is an advantage.
If we don't reinvent the wheel, if we don't reprogram the same component over and over again, we gain a lot of development time. Besides, we can be sure that these components that we reuse will be very well designed and implemented, since they are reused in many different places.
Symfony allows us to significantly speed up the development process, because it has many components already integrated into the framework itself and because its architecture is designed precisely so that our applications are modular and it is easy to create a component that we can reuse.
Reliability and Security
Symfony has a very large developer community behind it and has been thoroughly tested, which guarantees more secure and reliable code. Just look at its main repository on Github, which has almost 30k favorites.
Furthermore, the framework's frequent updates (there are already more than 530 releases on Github) include security improvements, something that undoubtedly adds incalculable value for any client concerned about the integrity of their project.
Maintainability and Scalability
When we use a framework, we start with a robust and well-tested skeleton, with clean and well-organized code that makes future maintenance (which will always be necessary—whenever something is built and put into production, it needs to be maintained and kept up to date) much more agile. The incorporation of new features becomes far less arduous. This means you'll be able to adapt more quickly to market needs or your own growth.
About bundles and reusable components
Let’s talk a bit more about what we mentioned earlier regarding bundles and the possibility of not reinventing the wheel.
Reusable Components
One of Symfony’s great features is its extensive repository of reusable components, called bundles. These are like small packages of functionality that can be easily integrated into any project. Imagine you need to implement an authentication system in your application. Instead of building one from scratch, you can use a pre-existing bundle like FOSUserBundle, which already has the best practices built in.
Forms and Validation
Let’s say your application needs to collect user information through forms. Creating forms from scratch can be a tedious and error-prone process. Symfony offers a form component that allows you to manage everything, from creation to validation and presentation, in a much more efficient and secure way.
Routing and Access Control
Navigation and route management become much easier with Symfony. The framework features a powerful routing system that allows you to add, remove, or modify routes with great ease. Additionally, you can configure access control rules to define who can see what, thus enhancing the security of your application.
ORM and Database
Symfony is perfectly integrated with the Doctrine ORM (Object-Relational Mapping), which simplifies interaction with databases. This eliminates the need to write raw SQL queries, minimizing the risk of errors and vulnerabilities, and saving a lot of time in development. It also allows for easy integration with various databases, depending on the project’s needs. In other words, with the same entity code, we can connect to MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, etc.
Twig Template Engine
Using the Twig template engine allows for separating business logic from the visual presentation of the application. This not only speeds up development but also makes it easier for designers and developers to work in parallel.
In Summary
What could take weeks of development if done from scratch can be drastically reduced thanks to the tools and components Symfony provides. This is not only an advantage for developers but a true added value for our clients. It reduces time to market, increases reliability, and facilitates future scalability—factors that, in today’s competitive digital world, can make the difference between success and failure.