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Falcon VS CodeIgniter

Compare Falcon VS CodeIgniter and see what are their differences

Falcon logo Falcon

Ultraportable 2-in-1 Laptop

CodeIgniter logo CodeIgniter

A Fully Baked PHP Framework
  • Falcon Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-26
  • CodeIgniter Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21

Falcon features and specs

  • Performance
    Falcon is designed to be a highly performant framework, focusing on speed and efficiency. It avoids unnecessary overhead, which makes it faster than many other Python web frameworks.
  • Minimalism
    The framework is minimalistic and doesn't come with a lot of bells and whistles. This makes it easier to understand and use for developers who need to create lightweight applications.
  • Scalability
    Falcon is suitable for building APIs and microservices that need to handle a large number of requests efficiently. Its architecture supports horizontal scaling with ease.
  • Security
    Falcon includes sensible defaults and provides mechanisms to help you write secure web applications and APIs. It doesn't assume or enforce a specific security model, leaving flexibility for implementation.
  • Extensibility
    Falcon can be easily extended to support additional middleware, components, and libraries, making it adaptable for different types of projects.

Possible disadvantages of Falcon

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its minimalistic nature, developers who are used to more feature-rich frameworks may find Falcon's approach requires a period of adjustment.
  • Ecosystem
    Falcon doesn't have as extensive an ecosystem or as many third-party plugins as some other frameworks (like Django or Flask), which might limit functionality or require more custom development.
  • Documentation
    While Falcon does have documentation, it might not be as comprehensive or beginner-friendly as some other frameworks. This could make it challenging for new developers to get up to speed.
  • No Built-in ORM
    Falcon does not include an Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) layer, unlike some other frameworks. This means developers must integrate their choice of ORM separately, which can increase setup complexity.
  • Community Support
    Falcon's community is smaller when compared to other major web frameworks, which could mean fewer resources, third-party tools, and community-driven solutions available.

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.

Analysis of Falcon

Overall verdict

  • Falcon is a good choice for developers who need a high-performance, minimalist web framework for building REST APIs. Its focus on speed and efficiency makes it particularly well-suited for high-load applications and microservices. However, it may not be the best fit for projects that require extensive built-in features and conveniences found in more full-featured frameworks like Django or Flask.

Why this product is good

  • Falcon (falconframework.org) is a high-performance Python web framework designed to build fast, scalable, and reliable applications. It emphasizes minimalism and speed, making it an ideal choice for developing RESTful APIs. Falcon is lightweight and has a small codebase, which allows for efficient execution and quick response times. It also provides excellent support for handling large volumes of requests and has an active community contributing to its development and maintenance.

Recommended for

  • Developers building RESTful APIs.
  • Projects requiring high performance and low overhead.
  • Microservices architecture where scalability is crucial.
  • Environments where minimalism and control over the application are priorities.

Analysis of CodeIgniter

Overall verdict

  • Yes, CodeIgniter is a good choice for developers looking for a simple and efficient PHP framework. It's particularly well-suited for projects where performance is a priority, and extensive feature sets found in larger frameworks are not necessary.

Why this product is good

  • CodeIgniter is considered a good PHP framework because it is lightweight, easy to set up, and requires minimal server resources. It offers a straightforward approach to building web applications, especially for developers who appreciate simplicity and performance. Its comprehensive documentation and active community support are additional positives.

Recommended for

  • Developers who need a lightweight and fast framework
  • Projects with straightforward requirements and simplistic architectures
  • Developers who prefer a framework with easy installation and minimal configuration
  • Smaller projects or prototypes that require rapid development
  • Projects with limited server resources

Falcon videos

adidas Falcon Review

More videos:

  • Review - Falcon Age Review
  • Demo - UVI Falcon Review & Demo - The Ultimate VST [Review // Gear // Sound Demo]

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

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Falcon and CodeIgniter)
Web Frameworks
10 10%
90% 90
Developer Tools
12 12%
88% 88
Python Web Framework
21 21%
79% 79
PHP MVC Framework
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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

Falcon Reviews

Top 8 Python Tools For App Development
About: Falcon is a reliable, high-performance Python web framework for building large-scale app backends and microservices. Falcon apps work with any WSGI or ASGI server, and it runs under CPython version 3.5+ and PyPy version 3.5+. Some of the features are mentioned below:-
17 Top Evernote Alternatives for Note-Taking for 2019
It’s not just visually pleasing, it’s also got a kickass name. Falcon users can write in markdown and enjoy live previews as they write. A beginner at writing in markdown? No worries—Falcon’s Markdown Helper guides you each step of the way.

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.

    šŸ 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 ā€œThe PHP Framework for Web Artisans.ā€ It was developed by Taylor Otwell, who wanted a framework with elements that CodeIgniter didn’t have, such as user authentication.
Source: kinsta.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CodeIgniter should be more popular than Falcon. 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.

Falcon mentions (3)

  • Functional Testing as a Design Tool for Full Stack Projects. Part II: API server and Project Release
    Falcon — a lightning-fast, minimalist Python web API framework for building robust app back-ends and micro-services. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • A viable solution for Python concurrency
    This is why you run one process per core, and you'll typically have something like nginx+uWSGI distribute requests across them. I use this combination with https://falconframework.org/ and boto3 to spool HTTP POST requests to S3 and SQS and am pretty happy with it. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • The Top 5 Python Frameworks for Web Development
    Falcon is a Python Web framework for building large-scale app backends and microservices. It encourages the REST architectural style, and tries to do as little as possible while remaining highly effective. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

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 / 3 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
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What are some alternatives?

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

Django - The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines

Laravel - A PHP Framework For Web Artisans

Node.js - Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications

CakePHP - The Rapid Development Framework for PHP

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

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