PHP5 - PHP - Zend Framework

[compsci]

hello all,

Anyone used the zend framework or know about it? Is it really that useful and do you have to learn the framework to be able to actually use it?

Is it useful for new large web applications as the back end?

Thanks all

[jsebrech]

The zend framework is a collection of libraries that solve particular problems that pop up a lot in web applications. They have classes for authentication, access control (restricting access to pages and functionality), MVC, web service integration, translation, and so on... It's solid code, but it's only useful if you actually need those issues solved. Just take a look at the list of libraries in the framework documentation, and think about whether any of it applies to your project. The upside of the zend framework is that the libraries can easily be integrated into almost any architecture, even pre-existing web apps.

If you're starting fresh, you may also want to take a look at projects like CakePHP or Symphony, which go beyond providing a set of libraries but actually provide you with an application architecture. It makes sense to use these if you're starting a large project, but it is their way or the highway when it comes to the back-end design of your project.

[compsci]

It makes sense to use these if you're starting a large project, but it is their way or the highway when it comes to the back-end design of your project.

Thank you jsebrech! That was very informative. I have looked at the libraries and i can see some i can use. I am not a pro PHP developer but i am not a newbie either! But some of the libraries seemed complicated.

I think however, that i should write my web project from scratch [i will learn more this way too] and then maybe use some Zend components in the future- if their coding is better than mine which is mostly like to be the case! But i dont want to be limited by the framework.

I will research cakePHP and Symphony.

The main reason for me looking at the zend framework is because i am looking for things/tools that can speed up the dev time. Do you have any other ideas on how i can do this?

thanks

[jsebrech]

My advice for speeding up dev time, which may sound overly simplistic but is the best advice I can give, is to write as little code as possible. You can either go the zend framework route and simply use as many libraries as fit into your project, or you can go the symphony route and just use their architecture (meaning you only write feature-specific code, they take care of all the rest). Which way you go depends on your personal preferences in the matter. The benefit of frameworks like symphony is that they solve most of the problems you don't yet know you're going to have (e.g. localization issues). The downside is that you give away quite a bit of control.

By the way, I've also heard good things about the codeigniter framework (it's supposed to be easy to learn), which falls into the same class as cakephp and symphony.

[compsci]

My advice for speeding up dev time, which may sound overly simplistic but is the best advice I can give, is to write as little code as possible.

Very good point and i think frameworks can help do this, i just have to find a useful one that is very easy to learn! :)

Thanks again for the advice.