Symfony 4 & Symfony Flex - Core ideas, features and improvements

Since its release back in 2005, Symfony has been continuously evolving and improving. With every new version, the framework has pushed forward, helping us writing better code faster.
In this talk we will see the new features and improvements that Symfony 4 is going to introduce next November. We will learn the core ideas from this new version, understanding not only how to use it, but also what are the key assumptions and motivations behind.
Moreover, we will have a close look at the so-called “Symfony 4 secret weapon”: Symfony Flex. This Composer plugin has been created with the idea of cutting configuration times to the minimum. We will understand how it works and learn how to use it properly to boost our productivity.

Transcript

1. Symfony 4 & Symfony Flex
   Core ideas, features and improvements
   Victoria Quirante
   

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2. I work at Limenius
   We build tailor-made projects with
   Symfony and React
   We have been working with Symfony
   since 2008
   SF4 means a significant evolution Victoria Quirante
   @vicqr
   victoria@limenius.com
   

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3. SYMFONY 4 MOTIVATION
   What are the driving
   forces behind this new
   version
   https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/14411386334
   

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4. SYMFONY 4 MOTIVATION
   Or why the hell
   do we have to change
   things again
   https://www.flickr.com/photos/mindaugasdanys/3766009204
   

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5. «As a developer, I want to start small, without too many dependencies. But I also
   want to be able to grow my application as I see fit. From a micro-framework style app
   to a gigantic monolith. Your choice. The framework should not get in the way.»
   Fabien Potencier
   «Symfony Flex is all about making it simple and easy to create any Symfony applications, from
   the most simple micro-style project to the more complex ones with dozens of dependencies. It
   automates adding and removing bundles. It takes care of giving you sensible defaults. It helps
   discovering good bundles.»
   Fabien Potencier
   

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6. Victoria Quirante
   @vicqr
   victoria@limenius.com
   SF 4 seems like the result of a SWOT analysis
   Victoria Quirante
   @vicqr
   victoria@limenius.com
   S W
   O T
   Flexible
   Powerful
   Config time high
   Learning curve
   SF 2
   Web development
   environment
   

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7. Victoria Quirante
   @vicqr
   victoria@limenius.com
   Recent evolution of the web development environment
   Our favourite
   framework
   Some jQuery
   {
   {
   Back-end
   Front-end
   

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8. Victoria Quirante
   @vicqr
   victoria@limenius.com
   Recent evolution of the web development environment
   Our favourite
   framework
   Some jQuery
   {
   {
   Back-end
   Front-end
   Backbone.js Ember.js Angular.js
   Gulp Grunt
   Vue.js Webpack React.js
   chats notifications immediate
   validations
   page reloads
   

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9. Victoria Quirante
   @vicqr
   victoria@limenius.com
   Our favourite
   framework
   Some jQuery
   Recent evolution of the web development environment
   {
   {
   Back-end
   Front-end
   Our favourite
   front-end
   framework
   Our favourite
   back-end
   framework
   API
   Backbone.js Ember.js Angular.js
   Gulp Grunt
   Vue.js Webpack React.js
   chats notifications immediate
   validations
   page reloads
   

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10. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Our favourite
    framework
    Some jQuery
    Recent evolution of the web development environment
    {
    {
    Back-end
    Front-end
    Our favourite
    front-end
    framework
    Our favourite
    back-end
    framework
    API
    Our favourite
    front-end
    framework
    API
    

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11. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Our favourite
    framework
    Some jQuery
    Recent evolution of the web development environment
    {
    {
    Back-end
    Front-end
    Our favourite
    front-end
    framework
    Our favourite
    back-end
    framework
    API
    Our favourite
    front-end
    framework
    API
    API
    API
    API
    API
    

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12. Then, what is expected
    from a back-end
    framework nowadays?
    

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13. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    - To be a great solution for APIs
    - To make easy to build some functionalities (admin panels, etc.)
    - To be efficient creating small apps and microservices
    - ...
    What is expected nowadays from a back-end framework?
    To take good care of the back-end
    

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14. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    SF 4 seems like the result of a SWOT analysis
    S W
    O T
    Flexible
    Powerful
    Config times high
    Learning curve
    APIs everywhere
    Microservices needed
    Backends needed
    Drupal/Laravel
    Frontend revolution
    SF 2
    Web development
    environment
    

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15. In front of this, what
    things should we
    change?
    

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16. SYMFONY 4 PHILOSOPHY
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/68532869@N08/16357411958
    

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17. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Symfony roadmap
    

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18. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Symfony 2 was two things
    1. A full stack framework
    1. A full stack framework
    2. A set of independent
    components
    

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19. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Symfony 2 was two things
    1. A full stack framework
    But “developing in Symfony 2” generally meant using the
    full framework
    

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20. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Example: If you wanted to build a console app before
    You could start with the full FW and get many things you don’t need
    Or go for the components approach… and fight quite a bit
    

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21. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Symfony 2 VS Symfony 4 graphically
    SF 2
    web app
    SF 2
    API
    SF 2
    microservice
    

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22. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Symfony 2 VS Symfony 4 graphically
    SF 2
    web app
    SF 2
    API
    SF 2
    microservice
    SF 4
    web app
    SF 4
    API
    SF 4
    microservice
    

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23. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Working with SF 4
    SF 4
    web app
    SF 4
    API
    SF 4
    microservice
    SF 4
    

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24. SF4 is not a new FW, it is
    a new mindset behind
    the same FW
    

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25. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Symfony 4 - Compose your application
    Make easy to create projects with lots or few dependencies
    For that, they wanted automate bundle installation/configuration
    

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26. It is key that we can
    make our project grow
    or shrink very easily
    

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27. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Working with SF 4
    SF 4
    web app
    SF 4
    API
    SF 4
    microservice
    SF 4
    We need something to smooth
    out this transformations
    

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28. SYMFONY FLEX
    What exactly is it
    

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29. SF FLEX is not a version of
    SF, it is a tool to implement
    SF4’s philosophy
    

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30. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Symfony Flex - Automation to the max
    It is a composer plugin that comes with Symfony 4
    Moving towards zero configuration time
    It also “promotes” a curated list of official recipes
    

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31. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Internals
    Modifies the behaviour of the require and update commands
    Allows Symfony to perform tasks before or after the Composer commands
    

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32. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    How it works
    composer require mailer
    It installs and enables
    SwiftmailerBundle
    

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33. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    How it works
    composer req mailer
    It installs and enables
    SwiftmailerBundle
    

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34. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    How it works
    Your application with
    Symfony Flex
    composer require mailer
    

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35. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    How it works
    Your application with
    Symfony Flex
    composer require mailer
    Symfony Flex
    server
    Is there information
    about this package?
    

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36. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    How it works
    Your application with
    Symfony Flex
    composer require mailer
    Is there information
    about this package?
    Going for regular
    installation via Composer
    Nope
    Symfony Flex
    server
    

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37. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    How it works
    Your application with
    Symfony Flex
    composer require mailer
    Is there information
    about this package?
    Symfony Flex
    server
    

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38. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    How it works
    Your application with
    Symfony Flex
    composer require mailer
    Is there information
    about this package?
    Yes, sending recipe
    Cool, following recipe
    instructions!
    Symfony Flex
    server
    

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39. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    How it works
    Your application with
    Symfony Flex
    composer require mailer
    Is there information
    about this package?
    Yes, sending recipe
    Cool, following recipe
    instructions!
    Deciding which packages to install
    Symfony Flex
    server
    

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40. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    How it works
    Your application with
    Symfony Flex
    composer require mailer
    Is there information
    about this package?
    Asking Composer to
    install them
    Yes, sending recipe
    Cool, following recipe
    instructions!
    Deciding which packages to install
    Symfony Flex
    server
    

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41. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    How it works
    Your application with
    Symfony Flex
    composer require mailer
    Is there information
    about this package?
    Asking Composer to
    install them
    Yes, sending recipe
    Cool, following recipe
    instructions!
    Deciding which packages to install
    Running any tasks required
    Symfony Flex
    server
    

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42. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Recipes
    Defined in a manifest.json file
    May contain other files or directories
    It ‘explains’ Symfony Flex what things need to be done
    

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43. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Recipes
    {
    "bundles": {
    "Symfony\\Bundle\\SwiftmailerBundle\\SwiftmailerBundle": ["all"]
    },
    "copy-from-recipe": {
    "config/": "%CONFIG_DIR%/"
    },
    "env": {
    "MAILER_URL": "smtp://localhost:25?encryption=&auth_mode="
    },
    "aliases": ["mailer", "mail"]
    }
    

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44. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Recipes
    {
    "bundles": {
    "Symfony\\Bundle\\SwiftmailerBundle\\SwiftmailerBundle": ["all"]
    },
    "copy-from-recipe": {
    "config/": "%CONFIG_DIR%/"
    },
    "env": {
    "MAILER_URL": "smtp://localhost:25?encryption=&auth_mode="
    },
    "aliases": ["mailer", "mail"]
    }
    Environments that this bundle
    has to enable automatically
    

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45. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Recipes
    {
    "bundles": {
    "Symfony\\Bundle\\SwiftmailerBundle\\SwiftmailerBundle": ["all"]
    },
    "copy-from-recipe": {
    "config/": "%CONFIG_DIR%/"
    },
    "env": {
    "MAILER_URL": "smtp://localhost:25?encryption=&auth_mode="
    },
    "aliases": ["mailer", "mail"]
    }
    Files and directories that will be
    copied into your application
    

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46. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Recipes
    {
    "bundles": {
    "Symfony\\Bundle\\SwiftmailerBundle\\SwiftmailerBundle": ["all"]
    },
    "copy-from-recipe": {
    "config/": "%CONFIG_DIR%/"
    },
    "env": {
    "MAILER_URL": "smtp://localhost:25?encryption=&auth_mode="
    },
    "aliases": ["mailer", "mail"]
    }
    New environment variables that
    will be added to your application
    

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47. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Recipes
    List of alternative shorter names
    for the package
    {
    "bundles": {
    "Symfony\\Bundle\\SwiftmailerBundle\\SwiftmailerBundle": ["all"]
    },
    "copy-from-recipe": {
    "config/": "%CONFIG_DIR%/"
    },
    "env": {
    "MAILER_URL": "smtp://localhost:25?encryption=&auth_mode="
    },
    "aliases": ["mailer", "mail"]
    }
    

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48. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Official and unofficial recipes
    Two repositories: core and contrib
    official repository
    (very) opinionated
    approval from SF core team
    Symfony Flex looks here
    aliases
    core
    community repository
    not opinionated
    -
    Symfony Flex may look here
    -
    contrib
    

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49. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Creating a new Symfony app with Symfony Flex
    composer create-project symfony/skeleton my-project
    

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50. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Creating a new Symfony app with Symfony Flex
    composer create-project symfony/skeleton my-project
    "require": {
    "php": "^7.0.8",
    "symfony/flex": "^1.0",
    "symfony/console": "^4.0",
    "symfony/framework-bundle": "^4.0",
    "symfony/lts": "^4@dev",
    "symfony/yaml": "^4.0"
    },
    Downloads the Symfony skeleton
    (just one composer.json)
    

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51. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Creating a new Symfony app with Symfony Flex
    composer create-project symfony/skeleton my-project
    "require": {
    "php": "^7.0.8",
    "symfony/flex": "^1.0",
    "symfony/console": "^4.0",
    "symfony/framework-bundle": "^4.0",
    "symfony/lts": "^4@dev",
    "symfony/yaml": "^4.0"
    },
    Downloads the Symfony skeleton
    (just one composer.json)
    composer install
    symfony/flex is the first package installed
    And runs
    

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52. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    May I avoid using Symfony Flex?
    Yes, you can install/configure things as you used to
    But Symfony Flex is the default way of doing things in Symfony 4
    

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53. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    May I use Symfony Flex with an old project?
    Yes, but installing Symfony Flex is not enough
    You need to update the directory structure
    https://symfony.com/doc/master/setup/flex.html#upgrading-existing-applications-to-flex
    

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54. WHAT HAS CHANGED
    Things we have to ‘relearn’
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/vialbost/37167061631
    

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55. Do you remember those
    never-ending discussions
    about one VS multiple bundle
    apps?
    

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56. Guess what was the right
    answer…
    

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57. «[...] We worked hard during the last few months to make sure that Symfony 4 can
    embrace bundle-less applications. So Symfony 4 will recommend and generate
    bundle-less applications.»
    Fabien Potencier
    

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58. View Slide

59. «[...] We worked hard during the last few months to make sure that Symfony 4 can
    embrace bundle-less applications. So Symfony 4 will recommend and generate
    bundle-less applications.»
    Fabien Potencier
    «No more bundle for your code, just use App\ as a namespace for any class under
    src/. It reduces the perceived complexity. It also makes your code feel more
    decoupled from Symfony.»
    Fabien Potencier
    

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60. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Bundle-less applications
    Change in best practices
    No more one-bundle-application
    Now zero-bundle-application is recommended
    In practice, not difficult to get
    used to this
    

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61. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Directory structure
    my-project/
    ├── config/
    │ ├── bundles.php
    │ ├── packages/
    │ ├── routes.yaml
    │ └── services.yaml
    ├── public/
    │ └── index.php
    ├── src/
    │ ├── ...
    │ └── Kernel.php
    ├── templates/
    └── vendor/
    It may be a bit tricky at the beginning,
    but it is actually simpler
    

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62. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    config/bundles.php
    File where installed bundles get referenced
    Symfony Flex is going to write here
    

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63. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    config.yml -> packages/package-name.yaml
    Forget about the single long config file
    Now our configuration is splitted in different files
    One file per package/bundle and environment
    

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64. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    parameters.yml -> Environment variables
    Now we have .env
    More standard way of managing settings
    # .env
    APP_ENV=dev
    APP_DEBUG=1
    APP_SECRET=d5b7eb4ea25adca8c17bsdsc126831c
    DATABASE_URL="mysql://travolta:travolta@127.0.0.1:3306/travolta"#
    

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65. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Unified web front controller
    No more app.php and app_dev.php
    Just one (public/index.php)
    Trickier to switch between them
    But it is considered a better practice
    # public/index.php
    $kernel = new Kernel($_SERVER['APP_ENV'] ?? 'dev', $_SERVER['APP_DEBUG'] ?? false);
    

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66. WHAT IS NEW
    What new shiny things
    do we get?
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/blondinrikard/14419731227
    

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67. Of course, Symfony Flex,
    but what else?
    

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68. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Some key things already introduced in SF 3
    - Automated configuration:
    - Autowiring
    - _defaults, _instanceof
    - Autoconfiguration
    - Further standardization:
    - PSR-4 based service discovery
    - PSR-11 containers
    - ...
    https://symfony.com/blog
    

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69. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Many not too flashy but yet powerful additions
    - Improvements in:
    - Guard authentication
    - Forms
    - Injection of tag services
    - Console exceptions
    - Overriding templates
    - ...
    - Integration with Bootstrap 4 form theme
    - ...
    https://symfony.com/blog
    

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70. AND, finally, just when we
    had lost almost all hope...
    

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71. A great solution
    for the assets
    

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72. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Webpack Encore
    It simplifies the integration of our Symfony project with Webpack
    Webpack is a great tool to process the assets
    Configuring Webpack is not easy
    But Webpack Encore solves that
    

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73. DEMO TIME
    Let’s create a project
    with Symfony Flex
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/callmewhatever/30708918322
    

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74. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Let’s create a project with Symfony Flex
    We are going to create a project with API Platform and EasyAdmin
    

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75. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    API Platform
    

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76. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    EasyAdmin
    

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77. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    composer create-project symfony/skeleton apiadmin-project
    cd apiadmin-project
    composer req api
    composer req admin
    composer req webserver
    - Create Entity
    - Config database
    bin/console doctrine:schema:update
    - Tell API Platform and EasyAdmin about our Entity
    bin/console server:run
    Demo time
    Let’s do it
    

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78. EVALUATING
    How good are these changes?
    

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79. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Fair questions about SF 4 & SF Flex
    1. Is it more difficult now to develop a ‘standard web project’?
    2. Trying to make config extra simple… is it getting more obscure?
    3. Are ‘official packages’ too promoted?
    Still early to know
    

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80. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    The good
    It makes sense not to carry dependencies that you are not using
    The things we need to adapt to are not difficult
    Moving further towards standardization
    

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81. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    The real good
    Trying to adapt to the upcoming challenges
    Webpack Encore
    Working together with the front-end,
    not fighting against it
    

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82. BET 1: Let’s embrace the position of the back-end framework in
    the landscape, and try to adapt to our time
    BET 2: Let’s keep our Symfony as powerful and flexible, while
    trying to compete against more high-level-oriented solutions
    

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83. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    Fears and hopes
    Great FW to create
    fully tailored-made
    apps
    SF
    It tries to gain ground on
    more high-level-oriented
    solutions
    It remains as good as always
    (or better) for that
    While making easier to build
    some “standard” stuff
    Optimistic outcome
    Pessimistic outcome
    It loses focus
    It loses love from traditional
    SF developers
    

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84. FINAL THOUGHTS
    What to remember
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/dewalick/15842170328
    

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85. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    To summarize
    S W
    O T
    Flexible
    Powerful
    Config times high
    Learning curve
    APIs everywhere
    Microservices needed
    Backends needed
    Drupal/Laravel
    Frontend revolution
    SF 2
    Web development
    environment
    

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86. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    To summarize
    S W
    O T
    Flexible
    Powerful
    Config times high
    Learning curve
    APIs everywhere
    Microservices needed
    Backends needed
    Drupal/Laravel
    Frontend revolution
    SF 2
    Web development
    environment
    

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87. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    To summarize
    S W
    O T
    Flexible
    Powerful
    Config times high
    Learning curve
    APIs everywhere
    Microservices needed
    Backends needed
    Drupal/Laravel
    Frontend revolution
    SF 2
    Web development
    environment
    

    View Slide

88. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    To summarize
    S W
    O T
    Flexible
    Powerful
    Config times high
    Learning curve
    APIs everywhere
    Microservices needed
    Backends needed
    Drupal/Laravel
    Frontend revolution
    SF 2
    Web development
    environment
    

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89. Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    To summarize
    Clear answer to the current times
    Imho, the direction taken looks promising
    There may be some risks, but it depends on how will it evolve
    The community has, of course, a lot to say in this
    

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90. Thanks!
    Victoria Quirante
    @vicqr
    victoria@limenius.com
    

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