@mr_j936 I am semi retired now, I came from java to php. jsp and servlet code I wrote 14 years ago still works today. The java spec calls for much longer backwards compatibility due to so many enterprise using it. Of course that's not including a security change (hash method) etc.

The top two for enterprise in php, there is no top two without compiled c+ classes. But Zend and Symfony would work if they have longer backwards compatibility.

Laravel would also work, a current version should be good for several years. I am using ver 5.1, and waiting to see if 5.5 is LTS.

There are some that have sites still on ver 4.2, which Taylor recently made php 7 compatible also. Due to so many existing 4.2 sites.

I wouldn't mess with any of the "in between 6 month" versions.

And for enterprise I would forget about the orm. I'd stick with good old normal PDO. Maybe querybuilder for some things.

Just my 2 cents.

Laravel 5.5 was announced as the next LTS long ago. https://laravel-news.com/laravel-5-5-lts

And for someone looking for some facts about relevance - a look at google trends gives a quite clear answer on what to use...

That should also be very convincing argument to any boss! Just show the graphs ;-)

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=laravel,yii,zend,symfony

Application development tech is not a popularity contest. I can't go to my boss 2 or 3 years later saying "sure we need to rewrite the entire multi million dollars project right after it just sold its first copy because the version lost security support, but look on the bright side, other people are doing that too!"

According to the same graph, we should have been using codeigniter in 2014, yeah that wouldn't have been a mistake...

@jlrdw I probably would have used raw PDO too if I were a much better developer, but the truth is I am unsure of my security and sanitization techniques, that I feel better when a well tested ORM is involved, Robustness and fewer lines of code help too. Doctrine tells me what functions are safe and which are not.

@Cronix Yes I am aware they did, it comes out AFTER the previous LTS loses bug support and it takes a major major rewrite to get there, none of our projects were upgradable BTW, some were stuck because they were using packages that didn't upgrade, others got stuck because they started out in 4.* and were using custom code built on libraries of previous Laravel versions which disappeared within a year. I started a project 2 month ago using Elixir, Elixir is no longer officially going to be supported, my project became obsolete during development! I understand that I can still use it, I understand it will be supported separately as its own package, but for how long? And who will be behind the support? It is not the kind of foundation a long living project can be built on.

I am not alone in my struggle with updating, I was interviewing at a company a while back that build big systems with Laravel, I asked them, how do you keep up with laravel versions? They said they don't, they have some projects in various 4.* versions, others in various 5.* versions, and as if daily work is not enough, they simply do not have time to upgrade, and all their projects need to be maintained for a while (they are a major live streaming service) yikes... Imagine all the code you have to remember for each of the different versions...

And I do not mean to be negative about the framework, I appreciate a lot of stuff in it, when I move to Symfony I find myself missing a few things I could do with Laravel(well it is a mutual feeling, a few things could be exchanged both ways) and this looseness with support is what allows Laravel to implement cool features quickly and adopt the latest things, I just feel it is a steep price to pay when going enterprise.

Well, there are two options. Either go with Laravel if you want to your project needs fast POC otherwise go with Symfony, which suitable and able to do a long term project.

So Goo to read your experiences..

Thanks.