Revolves

I downloaded Zend Framework 1.7 a few days ago. So far, it looks like a great framework, backed by a good company.

Previously, I learnt CakePHP 1.2 RC (I’m desparately waiting for 1.2 Final). CakePHP did have a good documentation, though lacking at some parts (especially the 1.2 version). But still, the usage for so simple that you could, by yourself figure out many things. Code logically fitted into places.

Now, Zend Framework is a completely different monster. Instead of a large framework, its a collection of components, basically. You can use any component on its own, without using the entire library, as long as you also include dependencies. E.g., the Auth component would require Session component for storage, etc…

Zend Framework does have a good manual, covering practically all of its feature. You’d find some sort of code for all the components. But the problem is, in many cases, they are snippets. You may be able to use them if that’s the only component you’re ever going to use. But if you’re taking advantage of Zend Framework’s MVC structure, you might be clueless on where to put those codes, how to call them, when to call them etc.

If you’re just starting out with the Framework, I’d recommend going through the four screencasts. Then, watch the webinars on components of your interest, though they’re basically the same thing you’d see in the manual. But still, you can get some additional useful information in the webinars.

So far, I’ve been able to create the main index and bootstrap properly, along with understanding the significance of each statement I write. The AutoLoad feature of the framework is a real boon. You don’t need to scatter require or require_once statements all over your code. Zend Framework will load the class files automatically for you, if you follow the right convention (which you’ll learn in the manual and screencasts).

I even played with the Auth component, and it works like a charm. You can restrict access to certain controllers or even actions within controllers using Auth alone, but I’d always recommend using Acl for such things if you have more than 2 roles and need to restrict certain actions within controllers. It’ll save you a lot of typing in the end. A good tip to note here is that you can/should save the Acl roles/resources you’ve constructed in a cache (using Zend’s cache) or a file or in a database, so that you don’t need to have an overhead of constructing them everytime.

So far, I’ve been searching the internet for various tutorials on Zend tutorials. Many bloggers have posted tutorials on various sections of the framework, I’m assembling a list of tutorials I liked, and am soon going to post it here.

Well then, meet ya next time!

Similar Posts:

• Using Zend Acl With CodeIgniter
• An Update On My Zend Framework 1.7 Experience