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CodeIgniter VS TurboGears

Compare CodeIgniter VS TurboGears and see what are their differences

CodeIgniter logo CodeIgniter

A Fully Baked PHP Framework

TurboGears logo TurboGears

TurboGears is a web framework to create a database-driven, ready-to-extend application in minutes.
  • CodeIgniter Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • TurboGears Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-06-29

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  • Outdated PHP Practices
    Some of the practices and conventions in CodeIgniter are considered outdated with respect to modern PHP development trends.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.

TurboGears features and specs

  • Full-Stack Framework
    TurboGears provides a comprehensive full-stack development experience which includes everything needed to build modern web applications efficiently, with features spanning from ORM to templating and caching.
  • Flexibility
    Allows for multiple implementation approaches as developers can start with a microframework approach using TurboGears’ tools and scale up to a full-stack solution as needed.
  • Modular Architecture
    Encourages a modular approach to application development, making it easier to maintain, scale, and test applications through reusable components.
  • Built-in Administrative Interface
    Comes with a ready-to-use administrative interface, which speeds up CRUD operations and management of application data significantly.
  • Support for Multiple Databases
    Provides ORM support through SQLAlchemy, enabling seamless integration with various databases and facilitating complex query handling.
  • Easy Testing
    Integrated testing support allows developers to easily write and execute tests to ensure code reliability and performance.

Possible disadvantages of TurboGears

  • Complexity
    The full-stack nature of TurboGears can introduce complexity, especially for developers looking to build simple applications, as it bundles a wide array of features that might not be necessary.
  • Smaller Community
    Compared to more popular frameworks like Django or Flask, TurboGears has a smaller community, which can result in fewer third-party libraries and community support options.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    The extensive features and flexibility of TurboGears can contribute to a steep learning curve for newcomers, demanding more time to fully understand and utilize the framework effectively.
  • Legacy Code
    There may be challenges when dealing with legacy code, especially in larger applications, due to stale documentation or deprecated practices from earlier versions of TurboGears.

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

TurboGears videos

TurboGears2

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CodeIgniter and TurboGears)
Web Frameworks
94 94%
6% 6
Python Web Framework
84 84%
16% 16
Developer Tools
92 92%
8% 8
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 TurboGears

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

TurboGears Reviews

We have no reviews of TurboGears yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CodeIgniter should be more popular than TurboGears. It has been mentiond 10 times since March 2021. 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 / 3 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 / over 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
View more

TurboGears mentions (4)

  • The Top 4 Python Back-end Web Frameworks for Your Next Project
    TurboGears is another Python web framework that is scalable. It starts as a microframework and can scale up to a full-stack framework. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Installing Python3 in Linux
    Building, constructing, and maintaining websites is a broad definition of web development. A front-end, which communicates with the client, and a back-end, which contains business logic and interacts with a database, are typical components of web development. Python also supports quite a percentage of the total websites, web apps and software running in the world wide web. The libraries that are applied in web... - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • Django vs other Python web frameworks?
    I've pretty much tried every Python web framework that exists, and it took me a long time to realize there wasn't a silver bullet framework, each had its own advantages and disadvantages. I started out with Snakelets and heartily enjoyed being able to control almost everything at a lower level without much fuss, but then I discovered TurboGears and I have been using it (1.x) ever since. Tools like Catwalk and the... Source: about 3 years ago
  • Python with MVC - can't send data from controller to the view.
    Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be many really popular MVC frameworks for Python. There IS Turbogears, but it doesn't seem that popular. https://turbogears.org/. Source: about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

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

Laravel - A PHP Framework For Web Artisans

Django - The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines

Flask - a microframework for Python based on Werkzeug, Jinja 2 and good intentions.

CakePHP - The Rapid Development Framework for PHP

Bottle - bottle.py is a fast and simple micro-framework for python web-applications.

Ruby on Rails - Ruby on Rails is an open source full-stack web application framework for the Ruby programming...