Joomla! Framework (CMS 1.5 and 1.6) vs Joomla! Platform

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Framework

The Joomla Framework is a platform for writing web and command line applications in PHP. It is free and open source software, distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later.

The Framework comprises code originally developed for the Joomla Content Management System and is a continuation of the Platform project. The Joomla Framework and the Joomla CMS are separate projects with separate development teams. Unlike the Platform, the Framework is not primarily intended as a platform for the Joomla CMS, and the Joomla CMS is not currently built on the Framework. More information about the differences between the Platform and the Framework can be found in the March 2013 edition of the Joomla Community Magazine.

Introduction to Platform

The Joomla Platform is a platform for writing Web and command line applications in PHP. It is free and open source software, distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later. The Joomla Content Management System (CMS) is built on top of the Joomla Platform.

The Joomla! Platform

As of 24 April 2013, the Platform project has been retired. The Platform has been merged back into the CMS, and the Framework has taken its place as the standalone application framework for Joomla! applications.

The release of the Joomla Platform on 5 July 2011 marked an important change in the Joomla! CMS architecture. The Joomla! CMS was initially a monolithic application. One of the aims of the Joomla! project was to separate the codebase into the CMS and an underlying library, which could then be reused for other projects. In version 1.5 and 1.6, that separation was prepared by creating a division between the Framework (CMS 1.5 and 1.6) (which is unrelated to the new Framework project) and the Joomla! CMS Application. The Joomla! Platform project continued this effort by separating that framework into an independent project (both in terms of code and organization). The Joomla! Platform is an independent set of libraries which do not depend on the Joomla! CMS Application. These libraries are made up of libraries maintained by the Joomla! Project and libraries maintained by other 3rd party developers. The Platform could be used for web and command-line applications entirely independent of and unrelated to the CMS.

The home of the Joomla! Platform was the joomla/joomla-platform GitHub repository that contains the source and documentation. The Platform stopped accepting contributions on or before 24 April 2013.

Differences

The Joomla! Platform can now be used to build other CMS Applications or Web and command line Applications specific to a developer's needs such as eCommerce, Social Media, and other stand alone Applications. The Platform is stored on GitHub, which allows developers to easily fork the Platform code for their own purposes, and then if they want, integrate it into the main code branch. This will encourage more developers and even attract larger corporations to contribute to the Joomla! Platform who might not have done so before.

Another good thing about the separation of the the Joomla! Platform it has a release schedule of every 3 months which allows for a faster integration of core features used by extension developers. The version number is determined by the the year of its release. For example, Joomla! Platform 11.1 was released in 2011 and 12.1 was released in 2012.