How to Use CodeIgniter 4 for Website Development

In this day and age, an Internet presence is a must for every business. One of the simplest ways to create yourself a simple website is by using specialized frameworks. If you are curious about how to use CodeIgniter & Bootstrap to create a website, you’ve come to the right place. This tutorial will explain how to build a website using CodeIgniter 4 and Bootstrap 4.

Why CodeIgniter is your best option

CodeIgniter is not a new kid on the block – it has been around since 2006. It is an open-source PHP framework that simplifies and speeds up web development. According to SimilarTech, CodeIgniter is currently used in over 120 thousand websites worldwide. The reasons behind its popularity are simple: CodeIgniter lets you work fast and safe, while also providing impressive security levels. As you will see in the first lectures of this CodeIgniter tutorial, its installation and configuration are very simple.

Another reason that makes CodeIgniter especially beginner-friendly is the fact that the software itself is free and lightweight. The file to download takes up only 2 megabytes – and that’s including the user guide with instructions on how to use CodeIgniter! However, the information in the guide might be a bit too technical. Isn’t a live explanation by an expert always better? Especially when you want to learn how to build a website with CodeIgniter & Bootstrap.

The topics we’ll cover

In this CodeIgniter tutorial, I will be going through all the significant concepts of the framework. We will discuss ORM (Object Relational Mapping), templates, multiple views, and helpers, libraries, and query builders. I will explain how to use AJAX for sending and receiving data without refreshing the page. While working on the database, we will also discuss using models and entity classes.

Like most modern technologies and frameworks, CodeIgniter receives constant updates from making it adapt to your needs the best it possibly can. While you can download as use CodeIgniter 4, it is still in development, as the latest stable version is still CodeIgniter 3. I will make sure to go through the differences between both releases to make sure you encounter no issues when learning how to build a website using CodeIgniter & Bootstrap.

To make sure you understand how to use CodeIgniter, we will perform a CRUD procedure at the end of our CodeIgniter tutorial. The acronym stands for four basic storage functions: creating, reading, updating, and deleting.

The addition of Bootstrap 4

While PHP is mighty, it does fall short when you need to deal with the front end. In this comprehensive course, I will also be explaining how to use CodeIgniter 4 with Bootstrap 4, which is currently one of the most powerful front-end frameworks in the world. It allows you to create responsive web designs. Just like CodeIgniter, Bootstrap is free and open-source.

By understanding how to use CodeIgniter with Bootstrap, you will handle both the back end and front end of your website. And voilà: you will know how to build a website with CodeIgniter & Bootstrap!