PHP frameworks are noted for their developer-friendly features and robust nature. PHP itself is a widely used programming language, so the different frameworks in themselves are hugely admired and widely used. In this article, we will discuss Kraken, the first and the only multi-processed, multi-threaded, fault-tolerant, distributed, async PHP framework, and its major features.
Kraken is the result of intensive research by the creator, Kamil Jamróz and is licensed under the MIT License. The beta version of Kraken was released in 2016, and the framework was designed to provide easy and reliable APIs. This helps in creating distributed applications across platforms, thereby giving developers access to elegant and powerful tools, and solving typical problems that they face while developing applications. The framework is built on top of an asynchronous library called Dazzle Library.
If as a developer, you have had problems in implementing PHP, then Kraken makes it easier. It lets you work on the following - servers, service-oriented architecture, agent-based models, games, complex daemons, socket programs, schedules, and several more. The list of impossible activities is practically nil with Kraken.
The Main Features of Kraken
Concurrency
Kraken is a concurrent programming language so it allows for simultaneous execution of processes while structuring a program. So for example, when two processes are assigned, the machine can execute and process both the instructions at the same time. Even when multiple copies of the program can run at the same time, the copies can communicate with each other.
Distributed system
The developer can divide the application into several containers so he/she can run them on a number of hosts, threads, and processors. This naturally improves the performance and efficiency of the developer.
Fault-tolerance
Kraken is the first fault-tolerant framework for PHP. It means the application will continue to operate smoothly and will heal itself by using various supervision hierarchies, both locally and remote.
Elasticity
Kraken is elastic, meaning; it can modify the existing architecture without making the changes in code. This makes the highly distributed applications to meet the challenges faced by the software architectures in performing real-time processing and analytics.
Modules
Being a modular framework, the developer has the freedom to use each of its components separately. Therefore, that means you do not have to download the entire application stack, but just what you require.
Examples
- Kraken/Channel for IPC abstractions and routing message routing mechanisms.
- Kraken/Config to use Kraken/Filesystem -based configurator.
- Kraken/Container provides a powerful dependency injection container, service providers, and service container.
Incredible performance
Developers can create awesome applications and make them fast and scalable. Kraken is much better than the traditional PHP approach as a single container would suffice to emit several hundred connections per second, millions of events and thousands of messages per second. In fact, it can generate higher amounts of connections than Node.js. This makes the framework stable and reliable while reducing the downtime for users.
Simple and consistent interface
It is possible to write multi-processed and multi-threaded applications with the framework’s simple and consistent interface. Developers no longer need to worry about forking or creating the PHP threads manually or store or clean them. There are several fallback layers in the framework to do this automatically.
The competency of the framework makes it easier for enterprises to re-engage existing customers and acquire new ones. It also helps in handling thousands of requests without putting significant pressure on the infrastructure and people.
Extensibility
Kraken is a simple and extensible framework, so perfect for developers who need a robust framework for their projects, but minus the unnecessary codes and dependencies usually found in big frameworks. The framework is integrated with options, and a set of default methods and components that you can adapt and extend as per requirement. In short, it lets you map your own methods.
Asynchronous
The framework, being asynchronous and event-driven, helps you build fast and scalable network applications. This increases the responsiveness of the application, and is a major help while performing database queries, for example, when you are running potentially long-running tasks. Slow running, freezing applications are always rejected by people.
So, what makes Kraken different from other PHP async libraries?
Kraken presents the developer with not just the async tools, but also several of the tough tasks involved in creating distributed applications. The consistent interface is also a major help as it provides remote and local supervision hierarchies, aids in IPC abstractions and implements most important messaging patterns, fault-tolerance mechanisms, smooth working with processes and threads and many more. All the developer has to do is start the Kraken instance and just concentrate on business logic.
Closing Thoughts
Kraken is designed to be a simple framework that makes it easy for developers to build great applications. It is high performing, secure and presents an extensible framework that coders would enjoy working on. The framework also helps release responsive applications as it offers asynchronous code and event-driven programming. This definitely changes the way you think about the different usability options of other PHP languages.
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