CodeIgniter's Advantage

[eluser]Spasms[/eluser]
I was just browsing the usage of codeigniter against cakephp, symfony and zend. I'm new to CI and it's my first framework so I was curious what these other frameworks have that CI doesn't? How is CI different what what are the future goals of CI as a framework?

[eluser]Developer13[/eluser]
You may want to search the forums for comparisons of CI vs. others. It's been done pretty extensively.

[eluser]nmweb[/eluser]
Good documentation comes to mind This is what CI excels at and if this is your first framework this is definitely a pro.

[eluser]Tom Glover[/eluser]
CI documentation and Support is second to none! I only started with it in late February this year and im almost pro now. this shows you how easy it is to use and how much, when needed, support there is on these forums. Benchmarked against cakePHP and Zend CI outperforms in speed and size. Again search the forums to find out more.

[eluser]Spasms[/eluser]
I agree, the simplicity and speed of CI are great. It seems other frameworks are much larger, sluggish and hard to configure. I'm happy I chose CI for my first big project.

[eluser]Mirage[/eluser]
Welcome to CI!

Like D13 mentions, do a search of the forums for more in depth comparisons of frameworks for people who actually used both. It's really not so much about what does one framework have that the other one doesn't. At least not on a feature level. The question to ask whether a given framework provides you with the tools 'you' need to get your work done.

Since you say that you haven't worked with frameworks before though, let me give you my version of the 500ft view:

From all the options you list, Zend really is a bit different from the others in that it's considered a glue framework. It provides you with all the components of an application framework but doesn't layout a workflow / predefined application structure. It's got some really powerful stuff in it and it can get pretty deep - perhaps too deep for beginners. ZF really pulls all he registers of PHP5 and if not using it for a project, it's an excellent learning resource. On the plus side for me is that it's driven by Zend, which makes me confident that it'll continue to grow, refined and always have and edge to take advantage of the latest PHP features/versions.

Symfony is a great framework, but the thing that turned me off about it was that it seemed 'top-heavy' and felt a bit complicated. I also wasn't to excited about them 'endorsing' a given AJAX framework. Not sure if they are still fixated on this, but but it just added (unfavorably) to the calorie count so to speak.

CakePHP looked pretty good to me from the PHP side. One thing I didn't like so much about it (Symfony has this too) were the command-line tools for building and updating application / db-structures. I'm not saying those are bad things, but it's simply put not how I think or do my work.

I'm a self-proclaimed PHP gunslinger and I like to shoot from the hip. CodeIgniter allows me to do just that. I have a passion for writing code but much more important to my business is supporting/maintaining the things I write for my customers. This means, most of the time have to move very quickly. CI provides a clear, sensible workflow and application layout that fits a large range of web-projects. In short - CI makes me productive. As I do this stuff for a living, there's no doubt that this matters a lot.

But it's not CI's design/philosophy alone that won me over.

For me it was definitely a big plus that the project was created by someone who already had a business built around a great, successful CMS product. There was little doubt in my mind that Rick Ellis had a passion for this project as much as Expression Engine. My confidence has been continually rewarded with improved releases, a growing, vibrant community, the formation of EllisLabs - all but merging the CI and EE communities and most recently the announcement that EE2 will be running on top of CI. Now - if [re]-building your already successful commercial product on top of your own open source MVC framework isn't eating your own dog food, I don't know what is. Ellislabs is now walking in our shoes when it comes to application development.

As to your question about what CI's future goals are - I'm not going to speculate or answer. That's for Ellislab to do. But if your concern is about the longevity, innovation or growth of CI, I'd say you have nothing to worry about.

Hope this helps!
J

[eluser]Aea[/eluser]
For me it's the speed and simplicity. There's no "in your face" mandates about coding style that the other frameworks are built around. If you want to use the building metaphor CI is really the framework, while others are more like pre-fabricated buildings that you'll struggle with if you don't want to do things their way.

[eluser]MCrittenden[/eluser]
This comparison of Cake vs CI helped me a lot in deciding to go with CI. The author tends to favor Cake, but his comments and the pros he mentions for CI got me excited about it.

Basically: awesome community, great user guide, speed, flexibility, good roundup of helpers and libraries included by default. CI has a lot going for it.

[eluser]Derek Allard[/eluser]
Yeah, Snook is a good guy. I've had a few conversations with him over the years, and this sat down and chatted to him a bit at our party at South by Southwest this year. Good guy. Gave him a CodeIgniter tshirt that he swore he would wear... anyone get's me a picture of him in it and I'll donate $25 to your favourite charity.