Modern PHP

Chapter 4. Components

Modern PHP is less about monolithic frameworks and more about composing solutions from specialized and interoperable components. When I build a new PHP application, rarely do I reach straight for Laravel or Symfony. Instead, I think about which existing PHP components I can combine to solve my problem.

Why Use Components?

Modern PHP components are a new concept to many PHP programmers. I had no idea about PHP components until a few years ago. Before I knew better, I instinctually started PHP applications with a massive framework like Symfony or CodeIgniter without considering other options. I invested in a single framework’s closed ecosystem and used the tools it provided. If the framework did not provide what I needed, I was out of luck and I built additional functionality on my own. It was also difficult to integrate custom or third-party libraries into larger frameworks because they did not share common interfaces. I am relieved to inform you that times have changed, and we are no longer beholden to monolithic frameworks and their walled gardens.

Today, we choose from a vast and continually growing collection of specialized components to create custom applications. Why waste time coding an HTTP request and response library when the guzzlehttp/guzzle component already exists? Why create a new router when the aura/router and league/route components work great? Why spend time coding an adapter to Amazon’s S3 online storage service when the aws/aws-sdk-php ...