View source for Symfony

{{Short description|PHP web application framework for MVC applications}}
{{For|musical composition and related terms|Symphony (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Symfony
| logo = Symfony2.svg
| logo size = 220px
| screenshot = [[File:Symfony Welcome Page.png|240px|frameless|border|center|Symfony Welcome Page]]
| caption = Symfony Welcome Page
| author = Fabien Potencier
| developer = [https://symfony.com/contributors Symfony community]
| released = {{Release date and age|2005|10|22|df=yes}}
| latest release version = <!-- If you update [[Template:Symfony version]], it will automatically update this page and [[Comparison of web frameworks]]{{dn|date=August 2022}}--> {{Symfony version}}
| latest release date = {{Symfony version|releasedate}}
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = 
| repo = {{URL|https://github.com/symfony/symfony|Symfony Repository}}
| programming language = [[{{#property:P277|id=Q1322933}}]]
| operating system = [[Cross-platform]]
| platform = 
| language = 
| genre = [[Web application framework]]
| license = [[{{#property:P275|id=Q1322933}}]]
| website = {{URL|https://symfony.com}}
}}

'''Symfony''' is a [[Free and open-source software|free and open-source]] [[PHP]] [[web application framework]] and a set of reusable PHP component libraries. It was published as [[free software]] on October 18, 2005, and released under the [[MIT License]].

== Goal ==
Symfony aims to speed up the creation and maintenance of web applications and to replace repetitive coding tasks. It's also aimed at building robust applications in an enterprise context, and aims to give developers full control over the configuration: from the directory structure to third-party libraries, almost everything can be customized.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://symfony.com/explained-to-a-developer|title=Symfony explained to a developer}}</ref> To match enterprise development guidelines, Symfony is bundled with additional tools to help developers test, debug and document projects.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://symfony.com/doc/current/profiler.html|title=Profiler - Symfony}}</ref>

Symfony has a low performance overhead used with a bytecode cache.

== Technical ==
Symfony was heavily inspired by the [[Spring Framework]].<ref>[http://symfony-reloaded.org/ High Performance PHP Framework for Web Development - Symfony]. Symfony-reloaded.org. Retrieved on 2014-05-30.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Open-Source cross-pollination (Symfony Blog)|url=https://symfony.com/blog/open-source-cross-pollination|access-date=2020-06-06|website=symfony.com|language=en}}</ref>

It makes heavy use of existing PHP open-source projects as part of the framework, including:
* [[PHP#Development and community|PDO]] [[database abstraction layer]] (1.1, with [[Doctrine (PHP)|Doctrine]] and Propel 1.3)
* [[PHPUnit]], a unit testing framework
* [[Twig (template engine)|Twig]], a templating engine
* Swift Mailer, an e-mail library

Symfony also makes use of its own components, which are freely available on the Symfony Components site for various other projects:
* Symfony YAML, a [[YAML]] parser based upon Spyc
* Symfony Event Dispatcher
* Symfony Dependency Injector, a [[Dependency injection|dependency injector]]
* Symfony Templating, a templating engine

== Sponsors ==
Symfony is sponsored by SensioLabs, a [[France|French]] software developer and [[professional services]] provider.<ref>[http://www.sitepoint.com/print/symfony-beginners-tutorial Learn symfony: A Beginner's Tutorial<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The first name was Sensio Framework,<ref>[http://www.symfony-project.org/forum/index.php/mv/msg/906/3674/#msg_3674 Symfony framework forum: General discussion => New symfony tagline brainstorming<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222003213/http://www.symfony-project.org/forum/index.php/mv/msg/906/3674/#msg_3674 |date=2008-12-22 }}</ref> and all classes were therefore prefixed with sf. Later on when it was decided to launch it as [[open-source software|open-source]] [[Software framework|framework]], the brainstorming resulted in the name symfony (being renamed to Symfony from version 2 and on), which matches the existing theme and class name prefixes.<ref>[http://www.symfony-project.org/forum/index.php?t=msg&&th=906&goto=3674#msg_3674 Comments by Sensio Owner] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222002518/http://www.symfony-project.org/forum/index.php?t=msg&&th=906&goto=3674#msg_3674 |date=2008-12-22 }}</ref>

== Real-world usage ==
* Symfony is used by the open-source Q&A service Askeet and many more applications, including [[Delicious (website)|Delicious]] website.<ref>[http://www.symfony-project.org/blog/2007/10/02/delicious-preview-built-with-symfony Symfony Blog - Delicious Preview built with symfony]</ref>
* At one time it was used for 20 million users of Yahoo! Bookmarks.<ref>[http://www.symfony-project.org/blog/2006/10/28/yahoo-bookmarks-uses-symfony Symfony Blog - Yahoo! Bookmarks uses symfony]</ref>
* As of February 2009, [[Dailymotion.com]] has ported part of its code to use Symfony, and is continuing the transition.<ref>[http://www.symfony-project.org/blog/2009/02/18/dailymotion-powered-by-symfony Symfony Blog - Dailymotion, powered by symfony]</ref>
* Symfony is used by OpenSky, a social shopping platform, and the Symfony framework is also used by the massively multiplayer online browser game [[eRepublik]], and by the content management framework [[eZ Publish]] in version 5.<ref>[http://symfony.com/blog/symfony2-meets-ez-publish-5 Symfony2 meets eZ Publish 5]. Symfony (2012-07-02). Retrieved on 2014-05-30.</ref>
* [[Drupal]] 8, [[phpBB]] and a number of other large applications have incorporated components of Symfony.<ref>[http://symfony.com/projects/drupal Drupal (Projects using Symfony)]. Retrieved on 2015-12-01.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://symfony.com/projects |title = Projects using Symfony Components}}</ref>
* Symfony is also used by Meetic, one of the largest online dating platforms in the world, on most of its websites for implementing its business logic in the backend.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slideshare.net/meeticTech/meetic-backend-mutation-with-symfony |title = Meetic Backend Mutation With Symfony}}</ref>
* Symfony components are also used in other web application frameworks including [[Laravel]], which is another [[Web framework|full-stack framework]], and Silex, which is a microframework.<ref>[http://symfony.com/projects Projects using Symfony]</ref>
<!-- * As of February 12, 2013 the wiki-database video game website GiantBomb.com converted from Django to Symfony following an acquisition.-->
* [[Vogue Paris]]'s website is also built on the Symfony framework<ref>{{cite web |title=Symfony Showcase: Vogue France |url=http://symfony.com/showcase/67 |url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926132939/http://symfony.com/showcase/67 |archive-date=2015-09-26}}</ref>

Symfony's own website has a comprehensive list of projects using Symfony and a showcase of websites built with Symfony.<ref>{{cite web |title=E-commerce projects using Symfony |url=https://symfony.com/projects/category/e-commerce |website=Symfony.com}}</ref>

== Releases ==

Symfony manages its releases through a time-based model; a new Symfony release comes out every six months: one in May and one in November. This release process has been adopted as of Symfony 2.2, and all the "rules" explained in this document must be strictly followed as of Symfony 2.4.

The standard version of Symfony is [[Software maintenance|maintained]] for eight months, whereas [[long-term support]] (LTS) versions are supported for three years. A new LTS release is published [[wikt:biennially|biennially]].<ref>[https://github.com/symfony/symfony-docs/blob/4cd6dc2825924c9569621bf749f168a7ba2a235d/contributing/community/releases.rst symfony-docs/contributing/community/releases.rst at 4cd6dc2825924c9569621bf749f168a7ba2a235d · symfony/symfony-docs · GitHub]. Github.com. Retrieved on 2016-03-16.</ref>

The latest stable release is version 7.3 and current LTS release is version 6.4.<ref>[https://symfony.com/releases Symfony releases as of 2025-06-17.]</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Color
! Meaning
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| Red
| Release no longer supported
|-
| style="background:#f2c22f;"| Amber
| security fixes only
|-
| style="background:#a0e75a;"| Green
| Release still supported
|-
| style="background:skyBlue;"| Blue
| Future release
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Version
! Release date
! Support
! PHP version
! End of maintenance
! Notes
|-
| 1.0
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2007
| style="background:salmon;"| Three years
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.0
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2010
|
|-
| 1.1
| style="text-align:right;"| June 2008
| style="background:salmon;"| One year
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.1
| style="text-align:right;"| June 2009
| Security-related patches were applied until June 2010
|-
| 1.2
| style="text-align:right;"| December 2008
| style="background:salmon;"| One year
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.2
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2009
|
|-
| 1.3
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2009
| style="background:salmon;"| One year
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.2.4
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2010
|
|-
| 1.4
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2009
| style="background:salmon;"| Three years
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.2.4
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2012
| LTS version. 1.4 is identical to 1.3, but it does not support the 1.3 deprecated features.<ref>[http://www.symfony-project.org/blog/2009/08/06/about-symfony-1-3-and-symfony-1-4 Symfony Blog - About symfony 1.3 and 1.4]</ref>
|-
| 2.0<ref>[http://www.symfony-project.org/blog/2009/10/27/why-will-symfony-2-0-finally-use-php-5-3 Symfony blog - Why will Symfony 2.0 finally use PHP 5.3?]</ref>
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2011<ref>[http://symfony.com/blog/symfony-2-0 Symfony blog - Symfony2 release]</ref>
| style="background:salmon;"| 
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.3.2
| style="text-align:right;"| March 2013
| Last 2.0.x release was Symfony 2.0.25<ref>[http://symfony.com/blog/security-releases-cve-2013-5958-symfony-2-0-25-2-1-13-2-2-9-and-2-3-6-released 2.0.23 released]. Symfony (2013-03-20). Retrieved on 2014-05-30.</ref>
|-
| 2.1<ref>[http://symfony.com/blog/symfony-2-1-0-released Symfony 2.1.0 released]</ref>
| style="text-align:right;"| September 2012
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.3.3
| style="text-align:right;"| June 2013
| More components are part of the stable [[Application programming interface|API]].
|-
| 2.2
| style="text-align:right;"| March 2013
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.3.3
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2013
| Various new features.<ref>[http://symfony.com/blog/symfony-2-2-0 2.2.0]. Symfony (2013-03-01). Retrieved on 2014-05-30.</ref>
|-
| 2.3
| style="text-align:right;"| June 2013
| style="background:salmon"| Three years
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.3.3
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2016
| The first LTS release, only three months development, normally six months.<ref>[http://symfony.com/blog/symfony-2-3-0-the-first-lts-is-now-available 2.3.0, the first LTS, is now available]. Symfony (2013-06-03). Retrieved on 2014-05-30.</ref>
|-
| 2.4
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2013
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.3.3
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2014
| The first 2.x branch release with complete backwards compatibility.<ref>[http://symfony.com/blog/symfony-2-4-0-released 2.4.0 released]. Symfony (2013-12-03). Retrieved on 2014-05-30.</ref>
|-
| 2.5
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2014
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.3.3
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2015
|
|-
| 2.6
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2014
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.3.3
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2015
|
|-
| 2.7
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2015
| style="background:salmon;"| Three years
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.3.9
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2018
| LTS release.
|-
| 2.8
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2015
| style="background:salmon;"| Three years
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.3.9
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2018
| LTS release.
|-
| 3.0
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2015
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.5.9
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2016
|
|-
| 3.1
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2016
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.5.9
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2017
|
|-
| 3.2
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2016
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 5.5.9
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2017
|
|-
| 3.3
| style="text-align:right;"| June 2017
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"|≥ 5.5.9
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2018
|
|-
| 3.4
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2017
| style="background:salmon;"| Three years
| style="text-align:right;"|≥ 5.5.9
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2020
| LTS release.
|-
| 4.0
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2017
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 7.1.3<ref>[https://github.com/symfony/symfony/pull/22733 Bump minimum version to PHP 7.1 for Symfony 4]</ref>
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2018
| Dropping support for HHVM<ref>[https://symfony.com/blog/symfony-4-end-of-hhvm-support Symfony 4: End of HHVM support]</ref>
|-
| 4.1
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2018
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 7.1.3
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2019
|
|-
| 4.2
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2018
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 7.1.3
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2019
| 
|-
| 4.3
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2019
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 7.1.3
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2020
| 
|-
| 4.4
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2019
| style="background:salmon;"| Three years
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 7.1.3
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2022
| LTS release.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://symfony.com/releases/4.4|title=Symfony 4.4 release|website=symfony.com|language=en|access-date=2019-11-27}}</ref>
|-
| 5.0
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2019
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 7.2.5
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2020
| Live released by [[Fabien Potencier]] during his Keynote at SymfonyCon Amsterdam (11/21/19).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://amsterdam2019.symfony.com/speakers#session-2983|title=Schedule {{!}} SymfonyCon Amsterdam 2019|website=amsterdam2019.symfony.com|access-date=2019-11-27}}</ref>
|-
| 5.1
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2020
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 7.2.5
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2021
| 
|-
| 5.2
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2020
| style="background:salmon"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 7.2.5
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2021
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 5.2 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/5.2|access-date=2020-06-28|website=symfony.com|language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 5.3
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2021
| style="background:salmon;"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 7.2.5
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2022
| Stable release.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 5.3 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/5.3|access-date=2021-07-16|website=symfony.com|language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 5.4
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2021
| style="background:#a0e75a;"| Three years
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 7.2.5
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2024
| LTS release.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 5.4 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/5.4|access-date=2021-07-16|website=symfony.com|language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 6.0
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2021
| style="background:salmon"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 8.0.2
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2023
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 6.0 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/6.0|access-date=2021-07-16|website=symfony.com|language=en}}</ref> Maintenance period extended by six months.<ref name="s61">{{Cite web |title=Symfony 6.1 will require PHP 8.1 (Symfony Blog) |url=https://symfony.com/blog/symfony-6-1-will-require-php-8-1 |access-date=2022-02-25 |website=symfony.com |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 6.1
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2022
| style="background:salmon"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 8.1
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2023
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 6.1 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/6.1|access-date=2022-12-29|website=symfony.com|language=en}}</ref>
|-
|6.2
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2022
| style="background:salmon"| Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 8.1
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2023
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 6.2 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/6.2|access-date=2022-12-29|website=symfony.com|language=en}}</ref>
|-
|6.3
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2023
| style="background:salmon;"|Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 8.1
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2024
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 6.3 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/6.3|access-date=2022-12-29|website=symfony.com|language=en}}</ref>
|-
|6.4
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2023
| style="background:#a0e75a;"|Three years	
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 8.1
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2027
| LTS release.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 6.4 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/6.4|access-date=2022-12-29|website=symfony.com|language=en}}
</ref>
|-
|7.0
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2023
| style="background:#a0e75a;"|Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 8.2
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2024
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 7.0 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/7.0|access-date=2023-12-18|website=symfony.com|language=en}}
</ref>
|-
|7.1
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2024
| style="background:#a0e75a;"|Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 8.2
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2025
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 7.1 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/7.1|access-date=2023-12-18|website=symfony.com|language=en}}
</ref>
|-
|7.2
| style="text-align:right;"| November 2024
| style="background:#a0e75a;"|Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 8.2
| style="text-align:right;"| July 2025
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 7.2 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/7.2|access-date=2024-12-08|website=symfony.com|language=en}}
</ref>
|-
|7.3
| style="text-align:right;"| May 2025
| style="background:#a0e75a;"|Eight months
| style="text-align:right;"| ≥ 8.2
| style="text-align:right;"| January 2026
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Symfony 7.3 release|url=https://symfony.com/releases/7.3|access-date=2025-06-17|website=symfony.com|language=en}}
</ref>
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [[Comparison of server-side web frameworks]]
* [[Lime (test framework)|Lime]], a Test framework for Symfony 1
* [[Zend Framework]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*Potencier, Fabien. (2022). ''[https://leanpub.com/symfony6-the-fast-track Symfony 6: The Fast Track]''. [[Leanpub]].
*Potencier, Fabien and Zaninotto, François. (2007). ''The Definitive Guide to symfony.'' [[Apress]]. {{ISBN|1-59059-786-9}}.
*Potencier, Fabien. (2009). ''Practical symfony'' (2009). Sensio Labs Books. [[Doctrine (PHP)|Doctrine]] edition, {{ISBN|978-2-918390-06-0}}, Propel edition, {{not a typo|978-2918390077}}, and Spanish edition available on lulu.com.
*Fabien Potencier, Hugo Hamon: ''Symfony, Mieux développer en PHP avec symfony 1.2 et Doctrine'', Eyrolles 2009, {{ISBN|978-2-212-12494-1}}, French
*Tim Bowler, Wojciech Bancer (2009). ''Symfony 1.3 Web Application Development'', [[Packt]]. {{ISBN|978-1-84719-456-5}}.

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://symfonycasts.com/ SymfonyCasts]

{{Application frameworks}}
{{PHP}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Free software programmed in PHP]]
[[Category:PHP frameworks]]
[[Category:Software using the MIT license]]
[[Category:Web frameworks]]