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Hello CodeIgniter Forum,

I am coming to you with a very serious question today… what is codeigniter and why should I use it? Is it a code editor like Windows Notepad, Komodo, Notepad++, or a WYSIWYG editor?

Thank you,
extrickster

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CodeIgniter is an Application Development Framework - a toolkit - for people who build web sites using PHP. Its goal is to enable you to develop projects much faster than you could if you were writing code from scratch, by providing a rich set of libraries for commonly needed tasks, as well as a simple interface and logical structure to access these libraries. CodeIgniter lets you creatively focus on your project by minimizing the amount of code needed for a given task.

http://ellislab.com/codeigniter/user-guide/

.........

CodeIgniter is an Application Development Framework - a toolkit - for people who build web sites using PHP. Its goal is to enable you to develop projects much faster than you could if you were writing code from scratch, by providing a rich set of libraries for commonly needed tasks, as well as a simple interface and logical structure to access these libraries. CodeIgniter lets you creatively focus on your project by minimizing the amount of code needed for a given task.

http://ellislab.com/codeigniter/user-guide/

I have read that… but that does not tell me anything? Why would I wanna use this instead of Adobe Dreamweaver? I just don’t get what any of this is?  ❓

I have read that… but that does not tell me anything? Why would I wanna use this instead of Adobe Dreamweaver? I just don’t get what any of this is?  ❓

Stick with Adobe Dreamweaver, this is not for you.

I just got into writing PHP with Active State Komodo Edit 6, I don’t use Adobe Dreamweaver. It actually sucks… I was just referencing to it by asking what CodeIgniter was. I have researched and some have said that this framework makes writing PHP faster… but writing it in a plain text editor is pretty fast already?... That is why I am misunderstanding this.

Stick with Adobe Dreamweaver, this is not for you.

Ha. Thats not helpful. Codeigniter is a bunch of code that you can use in any text editor that will help your php syntax writing to be faster. Here is an example. You want the code to print out a bunch of numbers.

function test(){

for($i=0;$i<80;$i++) {
echo $i . chr(10);
}

}

$result=test();

In the above example, once you have written your function you can re-use it anytime by just calling that function and it will happily print out all those numbers.

echo 0 . chr(10);
echo 1 . chr(10);
echo 2 . chr(10);
echo 3 . chr(10);
echo 4 . chr(10);
echo 5 . chr(10);
..........

In this example you will have to write out the echo statement 80 times

Which is faster? Obviously the first one.

So that is in a nutshell what codeigniter is. A bunch of code already wriiten for you, that you can use that will make sure you dont have to code the long way. The database active record is a perfect example. Compare the 1 or 2 lines of code used in that compared to the multiple lines you would need to write in pure php.

Yeah it is for small projects or works.. But with larger applications, codeigniter is best suited than normal dreamweaver or any of the same. It comes in with hell a lot of built in functions and stuff. Once u get the idea of how codeigniter works you’ll never even feel like going for pure php methods.. Its huge.. Best way to learn is to go through the guide and perhaps go through the forum. You’ll get an idea of what all applications are made easy through codeigniter. Last bt nt the least, u need to have a positive frame of mind towards codeigniter..

CodeIgniter is a collection of common libraries that you can re-use without having to write them from the ground up every time. It’s not a code editor but rather the code itself. It speeds up development by providing you with already working code that you can use in your own applications.

I’d recommend going through some of the tutorials so that you can get a better understanding of it.

Stick with Adobe Dreamweaver, this is not for you.

Ha. Thats not helpful. Codeigniter is a bunch of code that you can use in any text editor that will help your php syntax writing to be faster. Here is an example. You want the code to print out a bunch of numbers.

function test(){

for($i=0;$i<80;$i++) {
echo $i . chr(10);
}

}

$result=test();

In the above example, once you have written your function you can re-use it anytime by just calling that function and it will happily print out all those numbers.

echo 0 . chr(10);
echo 1 . chr(10);
echo 2 . chr(10);
echo 3 . chr(10);
echo 4 . chr(10);
echo 5 . chr(10);
..........

In this example you will have to write out the echo statement 80 times

Which is faster? Obviously the first one.

So that is in a nutshell what codeigniter is. A bunch of code already wriiten for you, that you can use that will make sure you dont have to code the long way. The database active record is a perfect example. Compare the 1 or 2 lines of code used in that compared to the multiple lines you would need to write in pure php.

Finally three people answered with helpful answers. I thought for a minute that CodeIgniter did not allow noobs like myself.

Ahhh.. (the blind man once said) I kinda see what CodeIgniter is now and what other PHP frameworks do. It is easier to develop large web applications in. Thank you @RoyMJ and @sean_THR for your answers. 😊

Thank you @RoyMJ and @sean_THR for your answers.

What, I get no love? 😖

Just kidding. Actually CI is not that bad for small applications too.

Just kidding. Actually CI is not that bad for small applications too.

Yeah.. And small projects tend to get bigger at later time and then you thank yourself for using CI 😊

Codeigniter is a PHP framework that acts the least like a framework, but just as powerful. Think of it as a massive collection of functions you can use without having to write your own code from scratch which will be riddled with issues if you don’t cover all of your bases.

To put it simply: Codeigniter is a PHP framework.

Take a look at some of the “Built on CodeIgniter” sites for some excellent examples.
 
CodeIgniter saves Googling for example scripts on how to do a tremendous amount of common tasks such as database MySQl, email, image manipulation. Nearly everything is available and rest assured that the code is secure.
 
If you cannot find a solution to your task, take a look at the CodeIgniter Wiki.
 
 

Hi, I’m a complete novice with regards to this so was looking for some advice. I’ve been asked to make some amendments to a website (I mainly work with .net and c# but know a bit about php and content management in general). Looking at it its been done with codeigniter but I have no idea how to make amendments etc. Do I dive in a start hacking around the code or is there some kind of interface/gui (and where would this generally be accessed from)? The website is running off a mySQL database by the looks of the config files I’ve found. Can I edit website content stored in the mySQL database via codeigniter?

Even simple stuff like updating a template for example, I’m kinda at a loss with at the moment.

I’ve downloaded the “System” folder off the webserver so I have a local copy. This includes an “application” folder and “codeigniter” folder amongst others. Is this all I need to get started? I presuming this includes all the codeigniter software and amended code for the website I’m trying to amend (i.e. downloading codeigniter off codeigniter.com would effectively be giving me a blank website/framework, like dot net nuke perhaps?)

Sorry these questions probably sound a bit dumb and seem to be beneath even the Wiki and help files so was hoping this forum could shed some light. Any help would be massively appreciated. Thanks.

Its ok, I have sussed out what I need by myself. Thanks