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Iris vs Symfony: What are the differences?
# Key Differences Between Iris and Symfony
Iris is a lightweight web framework that focuses on simplicity and performance, while Symfony is a full-stack PHP framework that provides a large set of reusable components and tools.
Iris uses a flexible routing system that allows for dynamic route patterns and subdomains, whereas Symfony uses a traditional routing system with routing configuration defined in YAML or XML files.
Iris follows a minimalist approach, providing only core functionality out of the box, while Symfony comes with a wide range of built-in features like security, form handling, and translation services.
Iris emphasizes modern PHP practices and leverages the PSR-7 HTTP message interfaces, while Symfony is known for its extensive documentation and strong community support.
Iris is more suitable for small to medium-sized projects that require high performance, whereas Symfony is ideal for large enterprise-level applications with complex requirements.
Iris has a smaller learning curve due to its simplicity and minimalist design, whereas Symfony may have a steeper learning curve for beginners due to its extensive feature set and configuration options.
In Summary, Iris and Symfony differ in terms of simplicity, routing systems, built-in features, modern PHP practices, target project size, learning curve, and community support.
I'm about to begin working on an API, for which I plan to add GraphQL connectivity for processing data. The data processed will mainly be audio files being downloaded/uploaded with some user messaging & authentication.
I don't mind the difficulty in any service since I've used C++ (for data structures & algorithms at least) and would also say I am patient and can learn fairly quickly. My main concerns would be their performance, libraries/community, and job marketability.
Why I'm stuck between these three...
Symfony: I've programmed in PHP for back-end in a previous internship and may do so again in a few months.
Node.js: It's newer than PHP, and it's JavaScript where my front-end stack will be React and (likely) React Native.
Go: It's newer than PHP, I've heard of its good performance, and it would be nice to learn a new (growing) language.
Go with Node.js. There's something really satisfying about being able to use a single language across your entire tech stack. Especially once you integrate GraphQL, which is effectively JSON.
Your second best option is Go, but the ecosystem around Node.js is quite a bit stronger. This will play a big factor when you start building functionality like file management, messaging (especially in real-time), and authentication. The libraries and documentation are just stronger for Node.
Pros of Iris
- Fast6
- Easy to use4
- Almost real-time support to its users3
- Fluent API2
- MVC efficient1
Pros of Symfony
- Open source177
- Php149
- Community130
- Dependency injection129
- Professional122
- Doctrine80
- Organized75
- Modular architecture71
- Smart programming47
- Solid45
- Documentation20
- LTS releases15
- Easy to Learn10
- Decoupled framework components9
- Robust9
- Service container8
- Bundle8
- Good practices guideline8
- Simple7
- Powerful7
- Flexible6
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Cons of Iris
Cons of Symfony
- Too many dependency10
- Lot of config files8
- YMAL4
- Feature creep3
- Bloated1