Why Webman Outperforms PHP‑FPM: A Fast Backend Framework Tutorial

What is Webman

Webman is a high‑performance HTTP service framework built on the Workerman socket library. It replaces the traditional PHP‑FPM model and can be used to build websites, HTTP APIs, or micro‑services. Custom processes are supported, enabling WebSocket services, IoT, games, TCP/UDP, Unix‑socket services, and any other Workerman capability.

Philosophy

Provide the greatest extensibility and performance with the smallest possible core.

The framework ships only with essential components (routing, middleware, session, custom‑process interface). All other functionality is reused from the Composer ecosystem, allowing seamless integration of packages such as illuminate/database, ThinkORM, Medoo, etc.

Key Characteristics

High stability – built on the battle‑tested Workerman socket framework.

Ultra‑high performance – typically 10‑100× faster than traditional PHP‑FPM frameworks and roughly twice as fast as Go frameworks like Gin or Echo.

Broad reusability – most Composer packages work without modification.

Extensible custom processes – any Workerman feature can be added.

Simple learning curve – API style similar to other PHP frameworks.

MIT open‑source license.

Installing Webman

Environment requirements

PHP >= 7.2

Composer >= 2.0

Create a project

composer create-project workerman/webman tinywan-cms

Run the project

Enter the project directory: cd tinywan-cms Windows : double‑click windows.bat or execute php windows.php.

Linux (development/debug mode): php start.php start Linux (production/daemon mode):

php start.php start -d

Tip: Errors often stem from disabled PHP functions; ensure required functions are enabled.

Access the application

Open a browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8787/. The welcome page confirms a successful installation.

Installing Webman‑Admin

Install the admin plugin

From the Webman project root run: composer require -W webman/admin The command resolves and installs all admin dependencies (e.g., illuminate/*, symfony/*, guzzlehttp/*, etc.). After installation restart Webman.

Access the admin panel

Visit http://127.0.0.1:8787/app/admin. An installer prompts for database configuration and creation of a super‑administrator account.

System installation steps

Configure the database connection (host, port, username, password, database name).

Set up the super administrator credentials.

Complete the installation wizard; the system will create required tables and seed initial data.