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Composer VS Select2

Compare Composer VS Select2 and see what are their differences

Composer logo Composer

Composer is a tool for dependency management in PHP.

Select2 logo Select2

Select2 offers customizable select box with support for searching, tagging, infinite scrolling, and many other used options.
  • Composer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-19
  • Select2 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-25

Composer features and specs

  • Dependency Management
    Composer allows for easy and efficient management of PHP dependencies, ensuring that the correct versions are used and conflicts are minimized.
  • Autoloading
    Composer supports autoloading, which means you don't have to manually include or require files, reducing boilerplate code.
  • Version Control
    It allows developers to specify and install the exact versions of the libraries they need, which helps in maintaining consistency across different environments.
  • Community Support
    Composer has a vast and active community, resulting in a plethora of libraries and packages readily available for use.
  • PSR Compliance
    Composer adheres to PHP-FIG PSR standards, promoting best practices and interoperability among PHP projects.
  • Custom Repositories
    Ability to use custom repositories allows for flexibility, enabling enterprises to create their own repository for internal use.

Possible disadvantages of Composer

  • Learning Curve
    Beginners may find Composer overwhelming due to its command-line interface and the complexity of managing dependencies.
  • Performance
    Installing or updating packages can sometimes be slow, particularly for projects with many dependencies.
  • Dependency Conflicts
    While Composer aims to minimize conflicts, complex projects can still face issues with dependency resolution that require manual intervention.
  • File Size
    Projects using Composer can lead to increased file sizes due to the inclusion of multiple libraries and their dependencies.
  • Security
    Including third-party packages can expose a project to potential security vulnerabilities if those packages are not well-maintained or audited.

Select2 features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Select2 offers a highly intuitive and user-friendly interface, allowing for easy navigation and selection with features like search functionality and nested options.
  • Extensibility
    It is highly customizable and extendable, with numerous configuration options and events that can be tailored to meet specific needs.
  • Tagging Support
    Select2 supports tagging, which enables users to add new items dynamically to a select list, enhancing flexibility and usability.
  • Accessibility
    The plugin is designed with accessibility in mind, ensuring compatibility with screen readers and compliance with accessibility standards.
  • Multiple Selection
    Allows for the selection of multiple items from a list, providing enhanced functionality for use cases requiring multi-select capabilities.

Possible disadvantages of Select2

  • Complex Initialization
    The initialization and configuration of Select2 can be complex, particularly for beginners, due to the numerous options available.
  • Performance Issues
    May experience performance issues with very large datasets, as all items are loaded client-side, potentially slowing down the interface.
  • Learning Curve
    There is a moderate learning curve associated with implementing and customizing Select2, especially for developers unfamiliar with JavaScript and jQuery.
  • Dependency on jQuery
    Select2 relies on jQuery, which may not be ideal for projects that prefer or require modern JavaScript frameworks without jQuery.
  • Limited Native Mobile Support
    Select2 does not naturally support mobile touch interfaces as smoothly as native HTML selects, which may lead to sub-optimal experiences on mobile devices.

Analysis of Composer

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Composer is considered an essential tool for PHP developers due to its efficiency, ease of use, and robust features that streamline the development process.

Why this product is good

  • Composer is a dependency manager for PHP, which simplifies the process of managing and installing libraries for projects. It ensures that the right versions of packages are used and handles dependencies automatically, saving time and reducing errors. It also has a large and active community, providing extensive support and a wealth of packages to choose from.

Recommended for

  • PHP developers looking to manage project dependencies effectively
  • Teams collaborating on PHP projects who need consistent environments
  • Developers maintaining projects with multiple external libraries
  • Anyone seeking to improve the organization and scalability of PHP applications

Composer videos

AI vs Human Music Composer 2019 - Orb Composer Review

More videos:

  • Review - Review Composer Cloud from EastWest / Soundsonline.com
  • Review - Behringer Composer PRO-XL MDX2600 Review (AUDIO TEST)

Select2 videos

HCC TV: Teufel System 5 THX Select2 5.1 speaker package review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Composer and Select2)
Development Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Javascript UI Libraries
86 86%
14% 14
JavaScript Framework
56 56%
44% 44
Libraries And Widgets
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Composer seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 143 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.

Composer mentions (143)

  • Arguments a customer can understand not to use WordPress
    There is also no requirement to follow the PHP-FIG standards. The best thing that is build because of those standards is Composer. The most plugins I downloaded while writing use composer. The problem is that the plugins ship with their own vendor directory. While the standard is to have one vendor directory for the whole project. This results in different packages with the same or different version of it in the... - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Insights from the PHP Foundation Executive Director
    “Extensions are now very close to being like packages; they basically look like Composer packages. It’s still open to discussion whether PIE will be part of Composer someday. It’s not decided yet, but I hope it will be,” Roman added. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • PHP Core Security Audit Results
    Dependencies are managed by Composer (like npm, cargo, etc) for more than 10 years now. https://getcomposer.org. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • WordPress and Components
    Composer and Packagist have become key tools for establishing the foundations of PHP-based applications. Packagist is essentially a directory containing PHP code out of which Composer, a PHP-dependency manager, retrieves packages. Their ease of use and exceptional features simplify the process of importing and managing own and third-party components into our PHP projects. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • 2025 Best PHP Micro Frameworks: Slim, Flight, Fat-Free, Lumen, and More!
    Simplicity: Getting started is a breeze—install via Composer, define some routes, and you’re off. Scaling up? Add middleware or libs like Twig or Eloquent as needed. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
View more

Select2 mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Select2 yet. Tracking of Select2 recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Composer and Select2, you can also consider the following products

jQuery - The Write Less, Do More, JavaScript Library.

Preact.js - Preact is a fast 3kB alternative to React with the same modern API. Components & Virtual DOM.

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

Inferno - An extremely fast React-like javascript library for building modern user interfaces.

Babel - Babel is a compiler for writing next generation JavaScript.

Glimmer - Fast and light-weight UI components for the web