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CodeIgniter

A lightweight PHP framework for building web applications, originally from EllisLab.

GitHub Download source
Stars
18.2k
Forks
7.6k
Licence
MIT
Language
PHP
Last update
2.3 years ago
Type
Framework

No commits in over a year — check for forks or alternatives before adopting.

What it is

CodeIgniter is an open-source framework written in PHP that gives developers a structured starting point for building websites and web applications. It is described in its metadata as an open source PHP framework originally from EllisLab. The README provided here was truncated and empty, so this entry relies mainly on the repository description and topics.

  • Building a PHP-based website or web application on a framework structure
  • Creating backend endpoints or web interfaces in PHP
  • Studying a mature, MIT-licensed PHP framework's code

Great for

  • PHP developers who want a framework with a relatively small footprint
  • Developers maintaining or extending an existing CodeIgniter codebase
  • Students learning how PHP web frameworks are structured

Not ideal for

  • Teams that need detailed, verified documentation from the README alone, since the README supplied here was empty
  • Projects that require a specific modern PHP version or feature set not confirmed in the available metadata
Step-by-step guide: how to use CodeIgniterInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs
CodeIgniter vs SymfonyCodeIgniter vs Slim

How to get it

  1. 1

    Clone and build from source

    You'll need: PHP (version not specified in the available README)

    Clone the repository

    git clone https://github.com/bcit-ci/CodeIgniter.git
  2. 2

    Run it

    • Clone the repository locally
    • Review the official site at https://codeigniter.com/ for current setup documentation
    • Configure a local PHP environment and point it at the project's public directory
  3. 3

    Get the most out of it

    • Check the homepage for the official user guide and tutorials
    • Review the repository's topics (php7, php8) to confirm compatibility with your PHP version

Downloads

Source code (.zip)develop branch · straight from GitHubOfficial website & docscodeigniter.com/

Strengths

  • MIT license, which permits broad commercial and personal use
  • Widely starred open-source project (18,152 stars at time of capture)
  • Targets PHP 7 and PHP 8 according to its topics

Trade-offs

  • README was truncated, so features and setup details could not be verified here
  • No published release listed, so version stability is unclear from this data
  • Last push date is July 2024, so current maintenance activity should be checked

How it compares

ProjectStarsTypeLevelUpdatedBest for
CodeIgniter (this)18.2kFrameworkintermediate2.3 years agoPHP developers who want a framework with a relatively small footprint
symfony31.2kLibraryintermediate4 days agoPHP developers building web applications that need a structured framework
Slim12.3kFrameworkintermediate5 days agoPHP developers who want a lightweight alternative to a full-stack framework
grav15.7kAppintermediate4 days agoDevelopers who want a PHP website without running a database
uuid12.6kLibrarybeginner2 months agoPHP developers who need unique IDs for database records or API objects
framework35kFrameworkintermediate4 days agoPHP developers building web applications or APIs

Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.