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CodeIgniter VS Apache FreeMarker

Compare CodeIgniter VS Apache FreeMarker and see what are their differences

CodeIgniter logo CodeIgniter

A Fully Baked PHP Framework

Apache FreeMarker logo Apache FreeMarker

Java template engine; generates HTML web pages, e-mails, configuration files, source code, etc. from template files and the data your application provides.
  • CodeIgniter Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • Apache FreeMarker Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-08-21

CodeIgniter features and specs

  • Performance
    CodeIgniter is known for its exceptional performance and fast execution, which is beneficial for applications requiring quick load times.
  • Documentation
    CodeIgniter offers comprehensive and clear documentation, making it easier for developers to understand and use the framework effectively.
  • Easy to Learn
    CodeIgniter's simple and straightforward syntax makes it relatively easy for beginners to learn and start developing applications quickly.
  • Lightweight
    The framework is lightweight and does not impose many dependencies or require a specific server environment, providing flexibility to developers.
  • Community Support
    CodeIgniter has a strong and active community, which means plenty of resources, forums, and add-ons are available for developers.
  • Built-in Security Features
    CodeIgniter comes with built-in security features like XSS filtering and CSRF protection, helping developers to secure their applications with minimal effort.
  • MVC Architecture
    The framework follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, promoting clean code separation and better organization of the project.

Possible disadvantages of CodeIgniter

  • Lack of Modern Features
    CodeIgniter does not include many modern features found in other frameworks, such as built-in ORM or out-of-the-box RESTful API support.
  • Limited Modular Extensions
    It has fewer modular extensions compared to other frameworks like Laravel or Symfony, which can limit code reusability and scalability.
  • Manual Routing
    Routing in CodeIgniter is somewhat manual and less intuitive compared to other frameworks that offer more automatic and flexible routing mechanisms.
  • Outdated PHP Practices
    Some of the practices and conventions in CodeIgniter are considered outdated with respect to modern PHP development trends.
  • No Built-in Authentication
    CodeIgniter does not come with a built-in authentication system, requiring developers to implement their own or use third-party libraries.
  • Less Emphasis on Testing
    CodeIgniter has less built-in support and emphasis on unit testing compared to other frameworks like Laravel, making it harder to implement TDD or BDD.
  • Lack of Native Composer Support
    The framework's native support for Composer, PHP's dependency manager, is not as robust as other modern frameworks, which can complicate dependency management.

Apache FreeMarker features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

CodeIgniter videos

PHP CodeIgniter tutorial: What is CodeIgniter and why should I use it? | lynda.com

More videos:

  • Review - Laravel vs Codeigniter - A quick comparison for you to decide
  • Review - Review Codeigniter 4

Apache FreeMarker videos

Apache Freemarker Template Demo with Spring Boot

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CodeIgniter and Apache FreeMarker)
Web Frameworks
96 96%
4% 4
Application And Data
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
PHP MVC Framework
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare CodeIgniter and Apache FreeMarker

CodeIgniter Reviews

  1. A PSR-compliant framework with diverse set of facilities and capabilities

    You can build any kinds of web apps and sites with this framework without consuming substantial server resources.

    🏁 Competitors: Lumen Framework

CakePHP vs CodeIgniter: Which PHP Framework is Best for Development?
CodeIgniter: CodeIgniter was developed by EllisLab and released in February 2006. It is known for its simplicity and speed, designed to help developers create full-featured web applications quickly. CodeIgniter emphasizes a lean and minimalistic approach, providing just enough to get the job done without imposing too many restrictions.
Top 5 Laravel Alternatives
CodeIgniter is simpler to use for the majority of developers. Laravel’s convenience is matched only by its adherence to a small set of standards and guidelines. CodeIgniter also offers improved error handling and more leeway in terms of customization. Overall, in comparison of Laravel and CodeIgniter, CodeIgniter might be the simpler choice for most web programmers.
Framework review: Laravel vs CodeIgniter
Let's start with CodeIgniter first. It focuses on performance and speed. It offers a simple, easy-to-learn syntax, making it ideal for beginners. CodeIgniter uses its own proprietary Active Record implementation for database operations, which provides a simple and intuitive way to interact with data. Unlike Laravel, CodeIgniter does not enforce a specific architectural...
Source: infinyhost.com
10 Ruby on Rails Alternatives For Web Development in 2022
Laravel is a PHP web framework that was built by Taylor Otwell in 2011 as an attempt to replace the older framework CodeIgniter that lacked some important features, like built-in customer authentication and user authorization. The current version of the framework, Laravel 8.16 has a great infrastructure of web development tools that facilitate queue monitoring, server...
The Most Popular PHP Frameworks to Use in 2021
Laravel is billed as “The PHP Framework for Web Artisans.” It was developed by Taylor Otwell, who wanted a framework with elements that CodeIgniter didn’t have, such as user authentication.
Source: kinsta.com

Apache FreeMarker Reviews

We have no reviews of Apache FreeMarker yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

CodeIgniter might be a bit more popular than Apache FreeMarker. We know about 10 links to it since March 2021 and only 8 links to Apache FreeMarker. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

CodeIgniter mentions (10)

  • 19+ Laravel Best Practices for Developers in 2024
    For history's sake, you should know that Laravel was built in place of the CodeIgniter framework as a modern replacement because the CodeIgniter framework missing important core features such as built-in support for user authentication and authorization. Since its initial launch in 2011, Laravel has implemented built-in support for localization, views, dealing with sessions, routing the request to the specific... - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • How to Install Codeigniter on a Local Server in 2025?
    Visit the CodeIgniter official download page and download the latest version. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Top 12 PHP Frameworks For Web Development in 2024
    CodeIgniter is an open-source PHP framework with 18k+ stars and 7.8K forks on GitHub. It follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture and provides a structured way to create and organize code. It provides a set of libraries and an intuitive interface to accelerate PHP web app development. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Why I selected Elixir and Phoenix as my main stack
    Over the years I have tried different frameworks, mostly in PHP, like Code Igniter (2010), ProcessWire (2014) and Laravel (2015). - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • In One Minute : CodeIgniter
    CodeIgniter is an open-source php web application framework created by EllisLab Inc and it is now a project of British Columbia Institute of Technology. The framework implements a modified version of the Model-View-Controller design pattern. It is praised for its performance and the quality of its documentation. It's currently licensed under the MIT License, although the previous version was released under the... - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
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Apache FreeMarker mentions (8)

  • Using FreeMarker template engine in Sitecore Personalize
    FreeMarker is a template engine, it allows to generate text output based on templates and dynamic data. It is similar to Mustache, Handlebars, Thymeleaf and other template engines. Templates are written in the FreeMarker Template Language (FTL) that supports conditional blocks, iterations, formatting, and many other capabilities. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • m8a scenario #1 - Using Coder to Develop Keycloak Templates Live (almost)...
    Getting back to our two main technologies....we have implemented Keycloak as our Identification and Authorization Management system (IAM). However, as these things go, Keycloak has its own tech stack. One of the technologies, of course, is the language they used, which is Java. And being it is Java, they chose to use a templating engine called Freemarker. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Typescript, Webpack and legacy jquery with plugins
    The project I was working on was a website using Magnolia as their CMS. It uses the Freemarker templating engine under the hood. Essentially these are super-powered HTML files, which give you access to the CMS content. You can still use all of the HTML tags you want, including the. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Can I use Java to build a website?
    You can use Java for Backend and Frontend. A relative new kid on the block for Frontend is Qute. The general keyword you are searching for is Java Templating Engine. Specific examples would be Thymeleaf or FreeMarker. There are some framework, which offer a lot more than templating like Vaadin or Wicket. Some are just specifications like Jakarta Faces with some of their implementations MyFaces or Mojarra. Source: over 2 years ago
  • How to create a Keycloak plugin
    Keycloak uses FreeMaker to store and render templates. Read more about how Keycloak manages its themes in the official documentation. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing CodeIgniter and Apache FreeMarker, you can also consider the following products

Laravel - A PHP Framework For Web Artisans

Apache POI - Application and Data, Languages & Frameworks, and Java Tools

CakePHP - The Rapid Development Framework for PHP

Guava - Google core libraries for Java 6+.

Django - The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines

RxJava - RxJava – Reactive Extensions for the JVM is a library for composing asynchronous and event-based programs using observable sequences.