How to best select a PHP framework - Laravel, Symfony, Zend, Etc
My company wants to adopt a PHP framework and I am being asked to decide which one to use going forward.
Our requirements are simple
- It must be part of the php-fig
- Must look like it will be around & active for at least another 10 years
- Must have a healthy community
- Must have libraries/bundles/modules/packages/etc or whatever they are called that we can draw on to speed up development.
Using the above criteria I have found frameworks that I like
- Symfony -> Seems to be an industry leader / feels a little over engineered
- Laravel -> very popular at the moment and easy to use/understand
- Zend -> Zend 1 hurt my feelings and I have never really forgiven it, I am just not comfortable with Zend
I would like to use Laravel but point 2 above concerns me as its really driven by one person, even though there is s strong community, that one person still has too strong an influence its not like Drupal where if Dries goes away the community will not crumble, I feel that if Tyler goes then Laravel will fall. And as much as I like it I don't want to tie my company to that wagon.
This question is NOT about which framework is better BUT how to best decide on selecting a framework for your Company
Answer
We can't tell you what is the best framework for you - only you can decide that. But you've mostly answered your question in your description of your options - it seems like Laravel is what you're leaning towards. Plus, it's an open source project, if the creator were to throw in the towel I'm sure there would be enough momentum for others to pick it up.
One additional point I'd make: 10 years is a long time in web development - none of the frameworks in your list existed 10 years ago. It's good to try and choose something with some longevity, but I wouldn't try and plan too far ahead.