github.com/dadajuice/zephyrus ↗

About dadajuice/zephyrus

Zephyrus is an elegant and lightweight PHP framework designed with pedagogical principles at its core. It positions itself as a middle ground between minimal frameworks and heavyweight solutions, offering a clean, maintainable codebase without being overly restrictive. The framework embraces PHP's native features while providing a structured approach to development, allowing developers to write quality code while maintaining the joy of programming.

The framework is built on a straightforward Model-View-Controller architecture with native support for the Pug HTML preprocessor alongside traditional PHP templating. It features a flexible request router based on controllers with middleware integration, comprehensive built-in security mechanisms including CSP headers, CSRF tokens, XSS protection, and intrusion detection via PHPIDS, plus an elegant form validation system. Data access follows a philosophy of manually defined brokers that give developers complete control over SQL query construction, with straightforward support for searching, sorting, and pagination.

Zephyrus requires PHP 8.2 or higher and currently supports Apache as its web server, managed through Composer. The installation provides example code to ease the learning curve. The project includes various utilities for cryptography, file system operations, error handling, and message transport, all wrapped in an object-oriented core that emphasizes extensibility through Composer module compatibility. The framework emerged from feedback and support from students at Cégep de Sorel-Tracy and maintains a focus on security, making it suitable for projects ranging from small applications to more substantial ventures.