Yii Framework

Yii is a high performance component-based PHP framework for rapidly developing modern web applications. The name means simple and evolutionary in Chinese and is also read as an acronym for Yes It Is. It is a generic web programming framework, and its component architecture and caching support make it particularly suited to large-scale applications such as portals, forums, content management systems, ecommerce projects and RESTful web services.

The project describes its own philosophy plainly: code should be written simply and elegantly, and the framework will not over-design in order to follow a design pattern strictly. That is a real position rather than marketing, and it explains why the framework feels lighter than its feature list suggests.

Full-stack features are provided as ready-to-use pieces, including query builders and ActiveRecord for both relational and NoSQL databases, RESTful API support and multi-tier caching. Nearly every part of the core can be customised or replaced, and a redistributable extension architecture exists for sharing that work.

Two major versions remain available, 1.1 and 2.0, with version 3 documented separately. Establishing which line a project should start on is the first decision, and the version-specific guides make that explicit rather than leaving it to be discovered.