research-article

Analyzing PHP frameworks for use in a project-based software engineering course

Authors:

Lisa Lancor,

Samyukta KathaAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCSE '13: Proceeding of the 44th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education

Pages 519 - 524

https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445350

Published: 06 March 2013 Publication History

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Abstract

Given the popularity of PHP frameworks used in developing web-based applications, a comparative study is conducted to determine which framework is best suited for incorporation into the curriculum of an undergraduate software engineering course that uses project-based learning. The top six PHP frameworks (Zend, Yii, CakePHP, CodeIgniter, PRADO, and Symphony) were initially considered and then narrowed down to two (CakePHP and CodeIgniter) based on their alignment with common functionality in previous class projects, framework complexity for those new to frameworks (learning curve), and developer friendliness (availability of documentation and online resources). An in-depth comparative study is conducted by developing a functionally-equivalent web application using each of the two frameworks as well as plain PHP (no framework). This work was motivated by the difficulties that were encountered in an evolving, content-rich software engineering course and discusses the educational changes that were made to align student learning with sound software engineering principles and current software development practices used in the computing industry.

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Cited By

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Ibarra Torres OUrbieta MRossi GLliteras A(2023)Knowledge Transfer in Software Development Teams—Systematic MappingIEEE Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnologias del Aprendizaje10.1109/RITA.2023.325084318:2(152-161)Online publication date: May-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/RITA.2023.3250843
Gharaibeh N(2022)Improving Web Application Development Course2022 Fifth National Conference of Saudi Computers Colleges (NCCC)10.1109/NCCC57165.2022.10067861(165-171)Online publication date: 17-Dec-2022
https://doi.org/10.1109/NCCC57165.2022.10067861
Barzilai OGafni R(2022)Using Web Frameworks in Server Side Programming CoursesJournal of Computer Information Systems10.1080/08874417.2022.211137863:4(866-876)Online publication date: 22-Aug-2022
https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2022.2111378
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Index Terms

Analyzing PHP frameworks for use in a project-based software engineering course
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software notations and tools
    1. General programming languages
      1. Language types
        Object oriented languages

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Reviewer: Andrew Brooks

There are many PHP frameworks that can be used to develop web applications. Which one is most suitable for an undergraduate software engineering course__?__ To answer this question, a quantitative and qualitative comparison was undertaken of plain PHP, the CodeIgniter framework, and the CakePHP framework. Complex frameworks with high learning curves did not pass the selection process, nor did those frameworks least mentioned on job search sites. To facilitate the quantitative comparison, a graduate student implemented the same web application using plain PHP and the two selected frameworks. Table 1 shows that fewer lines of code had to be written using CakePHP, while Table 2 shows that the plain PHP web application had much lower execution times for representative tasks. CakePHP was found to be the best choice in terms of security: the web application built with it survived the attempted SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks. The qualitative analysis, however, revealed that CakePHP did not score as well on several measures, such as learning curve and developer friendliness. CodeIgniter was deemed best for student use by the investigators. Experienced qualitative researchers might find themselves skeptical of the results of the qualitative analysis reported in Table 3. Usually such findings are backed up by quotes from individuals, but they are not in this report. By examining only two frameworks in detail, this study may be of limited value to anyone faced with choosing a framework. Nevertheless, this paper is recommended to anyone who needs to know more about frameworks for web applications. Online Computing Reviews Service

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Information

Published In

SIGCSE '13: Proceeding of the 44th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education

March 2013

818 pages

ISBN:9781450318686

DOI:10.1145/2445196

Conference Chairs:
Tracy Camp
Colorado School of Mines
,
Paul Tymann
Rochester Institute of Technology
,
Program Chairs:
J. D. Dougherty
Haverford College
,
Kris Nagel
Georgia Gwinnett College

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

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Published: 06 March 2013

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SIGCSE '13: The 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

March 6 - 9, 2013

Colorado, Denver, USA

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SIGCSE '13 Paper Acceptance Rate 111 of 293 submissions, 38%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 1,595 of 4,542 submissions, 35%

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Cited By

View all

Ibarra Torres OUrbieta MRossi GLliteras A(2023)Knowledge Transfer in Software Development Teams—Systematic MappingIEEE Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnologias del Aprendizaje10.1109/RITA.2023.325084318:2(152-161)Online publication date: May-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/RITA.2023.3250843
Gharaibeh N(2022)Improving Web Application Development Course2022 Fifth National Conference of Saudi Computers Colleges (NCCC)10.1109/NCCC57165.2022.10067861(165-171)Online publication date: 17-Dec-2022
https://doi.org/10.1109/NCCC57165.2022.10067861
Barzilai OGafni R(2022)Using Web Frameworks in Server Side Programming CoursesJournal of Computer Information Systems10.1080/08874417.2022.211137863:4(866-876)Online publication date: 22-Aug-2022
https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2022.2111378
Glassey RBälter O(2021)Sustainable Approaches for Accelerated LearningSustainability10.3390/su13211199413:21(11994)Online publication date: 29-Oct-2021
https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111994
Frees S(2015)A place for node.js in the computer science curriculumJournal of Computing Sciences in Colleges10.5555/2675327.267534130:3(84-91)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/2675327.2675341
Miller CConnolly R(2015)Introduction to the Special Issue on Web DevelopmentACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/272475915:1(1-5)Online publication date: 4-Mar-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2724759
(2015)Analyzing best practices on Web development frameworksScience of Computer Programming10.1016/j.scico.2014.12.004102:C(1-19)Online publication date: 1-May-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.scico.2014.12.004

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