Introduction to Phalcon Framework
We have seen many frameworks in Software Engineering, out of which we are going to discuss on a PHP framework that is web-based and depends on the Model View Controller pattern (MVC) known as Phalcon Framework. Phalcon is developed by Andres Gutierrez and collaborators. Phalcon Framework being an open-source has been licensed under the BSD license. Phalcon has been implemented as a web server extension written in C and PHP. Helps in boosting execution speed, handle more HTTP requests per second compared to other frameworks. Phalcon framework has been introduced to developers to develop applications with low power consumption and high performance. This article will be helpful for PHP developers, web developers, and web designers.
- Phalcon being a loosely coupled framework hence allowing its objects to be treated as glue components based on applications need.
- A less amount of code is required for several components.
- Phalcon creates an independent framework.
- For using Phalcon, the developer having knowledge on Model View Controller or Object Relational Modeling will be a plus.
- As Phalcon is a combination of PHP and C, each can be used as a standalone module, hence performance of Phalcon is different from other frameworks.
- Phalcon gives equal support to relational and non-relational databases.
- Developer Tools with CRUD features are used for developing web applications. C-Create R-Read U-Update D-Delete.
- It requires less coding for task implementation.
- Due to the presence of Zephir which is a high-level programming language, Phalcon is customizable.
Phalcon Framework
Let us look at the Functionality of the Phalcon framework with Diagram:
Phalcon functionality is based on Model View Controller, so let us see how MVC works. With three layers i.e. Model, View and Controller, MVC platform defines web applications
- Models represent knowledge, includes a logical way for connecting database and to perform CURD operations.
- The view is a visual representation of models, interacts with the model, and gets the necessary data. It includes data what the end-user sees which is achieved by sending requests and receiving responses.
- The controller is the intermediary for model and view. On accepting requests from users, through a view is send to model. The model transforms and sends a response to the controller, which is displayed to end-users in the view layer.
- HTTP Request from the end-user is sent to Controller.
- End-user interacts with the view layer i.e. user interface with the help of method or an event.
- Methods and events are handled by the controller.
- The controller then accesses the Model layer by updating end-user actions.
- The view layer uses the Model layer to generate output.
- As the model layer has no direct interaction with the view layer, view fetches data from its model.
- The response is then sent to the end-user displaying on the user interface.
- UI then waits for further action from end-user which starts a new request and response cycle.
Phalcon Directory Structure
As Phalcon is loosely coupled, the user can create any directory structure. The main directory is the root folder. The app being the master folder contains all the script folders and files, some of them are:
1. Config: all project configurations will get into this subfolder, a database connection, or third party libraries.
2. Controllers: process requests and give a response, all the controllers which user wants to define will be a part of this subfolder.
- It has Config.php: Nested Object property based user interface.
- Loader.php: Allows to load project class automatically.
- Router.php: Allows to define the routes that are mapped to controllers or handlers.
- Services.php: Implements dependency injection and locating services.
3. Library: all the third-party libraries which are of course external will be includes in this folder
4. Migrations: if there is any data migration that needs to be done, then the user can add or edit files in this folder.
5. Models: It includes all interactions related to the database to retrieve and display data. The folder consists of nothing but data completely
6. Views: in Phalcon Architecture or MVC Architecture, views are used to display data to the user. Information related to the view layer will be present in this folder.
7. Cache; It plays an important role in maintaining its role and information related to cache goes into this folder
8. Public: This folder consists of CSS, JavaScript, metadata i.e. data about data, images that are used in the application, files that are to be uploaded based on functionality, and temporary data related to software.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Phalcon Framework
Below are the advantages and disadvantages of Phalcon Framework:
- Written in C, hence fast in implementation.
- It is completely based on the Traditional MVC Framework.
- It has features of the Laravel 4 Framework which is the coolest factor here.
- Due to well structures files that are readable, maintenance is the key advantage.
- Installation is somewhat complex, the extension is impossible on shared hosting.
- Debugging C code will be difficult if something goes wrong.
Conclusion
With this we come to an end of this article, with knowing what Phalcon framework means, its uses, structure of its framework, MVC based architectural model which has been explained in detail. Phalcon being new PHP framework, and not as popular as other frameworks like Laravel or others but has better features comparatively. Phalcon also offers Template Engine, Query Language, Clean and well-organized documentation. Takes time to set up but for creating and developing websites, Phalcon is one of the frameworks users should have a try.
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