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CodeIgniter

CodeIgniter is an open-source web framework for PHP. It provides lots of libraries and packages, so you won’t have to build web applications and web pages from scratch.

It simplifies the PHP code and brings out a fully interactive, dynamic website at a much shorter time. It supports PHP version of 5.2.6 or newer and MySQL version 4.1 or newer. It makes your web more robust and your code easier to read and maintain. It is a free toolkit, light weight and easier to install.

Developers :-

British Columbia Institute of Technology (2014-2019), CodeIgniter Foundation. Initial release :- February 28, 2006.

How CodeIgniter works

CodeIgniter works on MVC (Model View Controller) Pattern. As the user requests for any resources from the CodeIgniter website, firstly index.php handle that request. As index.php acts as the frontend controller and initializes the base resources to run the framework.

Then comes the routing part. If any routes are overwritten then are considered at this point. After this point the framework checks for the caching. If present the user is provided the cached response, without executing internal code and database queries. This feature enables for faster response.

If caching is not enabled then user data and HTTP requests are filtered by Codeigniter to filter for security purpose.

Then reaches the controller and required models, helpers, libraries and other plugins and scripts are executed to get the result.

This result is then finalized in the form of view which is the display part. That view is sent to the user as a response. In between (if caching is enabled) the view is stored in cached for handling to provide faster response similar request again without internal system execution.

How to Install Codeigniter

You can install the Codeigniter PHP Framework from the link below:

https://www.codeigniter.com

Once you download it, extract the files from the zip folder and copy the contents and then paste it to a new folder under htdocs folder of your XAMPP server. Along with this, an advanced editor like Sublime, Aptana or PhpStorm would be great.

Features of CodeIgniter

  • Model-View-Controller Based System
  • Extremely Light Weight
  • Full Featured database classes with support for several platforms.
  • Query Builder Database Support
  • Form and Data Validation
  • File Uploading Class
  • FTP Class
  • Localization
  • Pagination
  • Data Encryption
  • Benchmarking
  • Full Page Caching
  • Error Logging
  • Application Profiling
  • Calendaring Class etc.

Why you should use CodeIgniter

  • If you need a framework with small footprint.
  • You need a high performance.
  • Need a framework which requires zero configurations.
  • Need a framework which don't use command line.
  • Need a framework which doesn't require adhering to restrictive coding rules.
  • To get a simplified code structure.

Summary

CodeIgniter is a PHP framework for developing applications rapidly, The built-in features of CodeIgniter are designed to work independently without relying too much on other components. The framework uses the Model-View-Controller architectural design. The framework is well documented, and they are good books, tutorials and answered forum questions on CodeIgniter. CodeIgniter comes with some libraries, and helpers users out of the box, CodeIgniter is easy to master for anyone who is already familiar with PHP, In CodeIgniter user requests a resource, the controller responds first. The controller understands the user request then request the necessary data if it is important.