Your question raises a valid point about the real-world implications of Phalcon's C extension architecture. I appreciate your curiosity, and I'd like to provide some additional insights.

In the example provided in the article, we indeed focused on Phalcon's built-in components, which are implemented in C, to showcase its raw performance advantage. However, real-world applications often include a mix of components, some of which may not be implemented in C.

The key to harnessing Phalcon's performance benefits in real projects lies in optimizing the critical parts of your application. By strategically using Phalcon's C-based components where performance is essential, you can achieve significant speed gains. Additionally, Phalcon's design allows you to seamlessly integrate with PHP-based components when needed, ensuring a balanced approach that aligns with your project's requirements.

While the example may not represent the complexity of real-world applications, it serves to highlight Phalcon's speed potential and its ability to gracefully coexist with traditional PHP code. As with any framework, the performance impact in a real project depends on factors such as architecture, code design, and specific use cases.

I encourage you to consider Phalcon as a viable option for projects where performance optimization is a priority. By carefully architecting your application and leveraging Phalcon's strengths where needed, you can achieve tangible performance benefits without compromising on functionality.