If you're considering a PHP-based framework for your new server-side application, you're likely to be faced with a choice between the two current market leaders, Symfony and Laravel. Since Laravel is actually based on Symfony and shares the same core components, the distinctive merits of each framework can be difficult to understand. Are we talking about the difference between Coke and Pepsi, or Coke and coffee?
The common current wisdom, which we'll examine, is that Laravel is faster in operation and easier to implement initially, and that it has superior online documentation and a friendlier learning curve. It is better suited to projects which need rapid implementation, with less complex scope or requirements for high-volume scalability. At the same time, Symfony requires more initial commitment but allows for the more efficient reuse of code, and the production of more robust and scalable enterprise-level web applications.
There are no truly neutral organizations out there benchmarking like-for-like, full-scale implementations between the two frameworks, so performance comparisons are inevitably anecdotal. Nonetheless, we'll explore the merits of each and some of the differences between them as they relate to PHP development for enterprises.