PHP Composer Dependency Manager Difference between 'composer install' and 'composer update'
Example
composer update
composer update will update our dependencies as they are specified in composer.json.
For example, if our project uses this configuration:
"require": {
"laravelcollective/html": "2.0.*"
}
Supposing we have actually installed the 2.0.1 version of the package, running composer update will cause an upgrade of this package (for example to 2.0.2, if it has already been released).
In detail composer update will:
- Read
composer.json - Remove installed packages that are no more required in
composer.json - Check the availability of the latest versions of our required packages
- Install the latest versions of our packages
- Update
composer.lockto store the installed packages version
composer install
composer install will install all of the dependencies as specified in the composer.lock file at the version specified (locked), without updating anything.
In detail:
- Read
composer.lockfile - Install the packages specified in the
composer.lockfile
When to install and when to update
-
composer updateis mostly used in the 'development' phase, to upgrade our project packages. -
composer installis primarily used in the 'deploying phase' to install our application on a production server or on a testing environment, using the same dependencies stored in thecomposer.lockfile created bycomposer update.
