15 Amazing Difference Between CodeIgniter 3 And 4

There are drastically Difference between CodeIgniter 3 and 4. Let’s check one by one.

#1. PHP Versions Support

To use CodeIgniter4 the minimum PHP version required is 7.2 or newer, while with CodeIgniter3 it is possible to use from version 5.6 (which has already been completely discontinued) or newer.

#2. Directory Organization

The directory structure is totally changed from CodeIgniter3 to CodeIgniter4. In CodeIgniter3 there are two directories available applications and system. While in CodeIgniter4 app, system, public, writable and tests directories are available.

#3. Use of Namesapces

CodeIgniter4 is written in PHP 7 and allow to use Namespaces. While CodeIgniter3 does not allow to use Namespace. This feature helps good organization of classes and can meke easy to mange code.

#4. Autoloading Support

Autoloading follows the PSR-4 and PSR-12 standards, allowing you to use Composer to automatically load classes. CodeIgniter3 does not strictly adhere to PSR standards. CodeIgniter3 allows its own coding standards.

#5. Entities Support

Entity class is simply a class that represents a single database row. It has class properties to represent the database columns, and provides any additional methods to implement the business logic for that row. CodeIgniter3 did not have this feature and anyone who needed to use it needed to use third-party libraries and make adjustments to the file upload to support it.

#6. Performance

CodeIgniter4 using the minimum PHP version required is 7.2 and it’s structure is better than CodeIgniter3 to manage code, So CodeIgniter4 is batter than CodeIgniter3.

#7. Monolithic Libraries

Unlike CodeIgniter three, during this redo, the utilization of monolithic libraries within the PEAR vogue is nearly zero.

#8. Use of Settings

CodeIgniter4 provides minimum configuration to start developing and running an application, while in codeIgniter3 there are required good number of configuration to start developing and running an application.

#9. .env Files Support

CodeIgniter4 provide native .env file to make configuration for different environment like production, development and tests, while this feature does not support in CodeIgniter3.

#10. Migration Between Versions

CodeIgniter four isn’t backward compatible, that the method of change applications from version three to version four would require a touch a lot of work, however, it’s not in the slightest degree sophisticated.

While the migration from version 2.x to 3.x, and between the different versions 3.x was just overwriting the files in the /system directory and updating the name of some files, from version 3 to four a new structure is needed for the application and a rewrite of all the classes used in it to adapt to the new standard.

#11. Composer Support

CodeIgniter4 has a native Composer. CodeIgniter3 does not have native Composer support.

#12. Database Support

CodeIgniter4 introduces new database layer with query builder functionality. CodeIgniter3 uses older database driver system. ActiveRecord is the main database interaction method in CodeIgniter3.

#13. Security Enhancement

CodeIgniter4 improved security features and match modern security practices. While CodeIgniter3 has security features but does not match with modern security practices.

#14. Error Handling

CodeIgniter4 provides more robust error handling methods and debugging support, while CodeIgniter3 has basic error handling mechanism.

#15. Routing

CodeIgniter4 has more improved grouping method to allowed in organised way to group route, while CodeIgniter3 provides limited features to group route.

Summarised difference Between CodeIgniter 3 and 4

1. PHP Versions Support

2. Directory Organization

3. Use of Namespaces

4. Autoloading Support

5. Entities Support

6. Performance

7. Monolithic Libraries

8. Use of Settings

9. .env Files Support

10. Migration Between Versions

11. Composer Support

12. Database Support

13. Security Enhancement

14. Error Handling

15. Routing

15 Amazing Difference Between CodeIgniter 3 And 4

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