Lumen vs Sails.js: What are the differences?

Introduction

Lumen and Sails.js are two popular web development frameworks. While they both have similarities in terms of being used for building web applications, there are key differences that set them apart. In this article, we will explore and discuss the six main differences between Lumen and Sails.js.

1. Architecture: Lumen is a micro-framework, whereas Sails.js is a full-stack web application framework. Lumen focuses on simplicity, minimalism, and speed, making it more suitable for small-scale applications or APIs. On the other hand, Sails.js provides a robust structure for developing scalable and complex web applications.

2. Language Support: Lumen is built on PHP, which is a popular programming language for web development. In contrast, Sails.js is built on Node.js, enabling developers to write server-side JavaScript. This difference in language support allows developers to choose a framework based on their familiarity and preference in programming languages.

3. Database Integration: Lumen has built-in support for the Eloquent ORM, which allows developers to interact with various databases easily. Sails.js, on the other hand, comes with an ORM named Waterline, which provides a uniform API for accessing data from different databases. Both frameworks offer flexibility in terms of database integration, but they use different ORM solutions.

4. Routing: Lumen follows a traditional routing approach, where developers define routes explicitly in their code. Sails.js, on the other hand, uses a policy-based routing system, allowing developers to define routes based on policies or access control rules. This difference provides developers with different approaches to handle routing and request handling in their applications.

5. Community and Ecosystem: Lumen has a smaller community compared to Sails.js. While Lumen is backed by the Laravel community, which is known for its extensive documentation and active community support, Sails.js has a larger and more vibrant community. Sails.js also has a rich ecosystem of plugins and modules, providing additional functionalities that developers can easily integrate into their applications.

6. Scalability and Performance: Due to its lightweight nature, Lumen is optimized for performance and is known for its speed. It is designed for small-scale applications that require quick response times. On the other hand, Sails.js is built for scalability, with features like clustering and pub-sub architecture that allow it to handle large-scale applications with high traffic.

In summary, Lumen and Sails.js differ in their architecture, language support, database integration, routing methods, community support, and scalability/performance focus. These differences make them suitable for different types of applications and cater to the preferences and requirements of developers.