This article is aimed at php developers who are looking to learn more about how not to reinvent the wheel, in particular, with the new Zend framework. This is not a comparative list of all php frameworks, as there are many good ones out there, CakePHP and Symphony to name two. I've evaluated other frameworks to some degree, not exhaustively by any means, and the Zend framework seems to fit nicely with my requirements. It may not for you, but I'll try to persuade you in this article

He introduces the framework first including a brief touch on MVC, the DOJO integration and its power and flexibility. From there he lists the tools you'll need to follow along with him, setting up the framework and creating a very simple site in it based on a pre-generated database (with the typical create/read/update/delete functionality).

A slim modular model-view-controller (MVC) framework written in PHP5.2+ for rapid development of web- or console-applications featuring an integrated db-api, template-logic, pretty-urls, internationalization, caching, data-models and a multi-layered file-tree.

They've just released version 20071127 adding all sorts of new features and bugfixes. Right now, there's not a whole lot to go on - several bits of documentation are listed to the right of the site, but the only real page is the introduction. If you'd like to be kept up to date on the project, though, you can always subscribe to their news feed.

This book explains how to work with CodeIgniter in a clear and logical manner. It is not a detailed guide to the syntax of CodeIgniter, but makes an ideal complement to the existing online CodeIgniter user guide, helping you grasp the bigger picture and bringing together many ideas to get your application development started as smoothly as possible.

[...] CodeIgniter for Rapid PHP Application Development is out now and is written for developers who are new to CodeIgniter. Basic skills in PHP and MySQL are required, but only rudimentary object-oriented knowledge is required.

You can purchase the book at your retialer of choice or you can get more information on the book itself from this page on the Packt Publishing website.

CakePHP is a rapid development framework for PHP which uses commonly known design patterns like ActiveRecord, Association Data Mapping, Front Controller and MVC. Our primary goal is to provide a structured framework that enables PHP users at all levels to rapidly develop robust web applications, without any loss to flexibility.

Among those on the list of handy tips for using the framework are things like:

• Static pages - Adjusting other data sent to the layout
• Viewing the SQL queries that are running behind the scenes
• Using bake.php
• Complex model validation
• Creating a model for a table that doesn't actually exist in the database
• Inserting multiple rows in succession

From the official announcement:

CodeGear, a leader in developer tools, today announced that Delphi® for PHP '" an integrated visual Rapid Application Development (RAD) environment for the popular PHP Web development language '" is now shipping worldwide.

Delphi for PHP brings the RAD productivity benefits that Delphi users have enjoyed for years to PHP Web developers. PHP, designed to allow Web developers to write dynamically generated pages quickly, is the most prominent dynamic Web language today and has become one of the top 10 programming languages overall.

Features of this new tool include VCL for PHP, an open-source PHP 5 visual component library with more than 50 reusable components and seamless AJAX integration, an integrated PHP debugger, and a code editor with Code Insight, Code Explorer, and Code Templates.

Check out the main site for the software or one of the videos showing it in action:

• Using VCL for PHP to build database application and data dictionary in Delphi for PHP
• Delphi for PHP Simple Application

Many web developers today use PHP to develop portal frameworks, forums, and web applications because PHP allows them to create dynamic web applications with solid database connectivity. However, PHP web development has been stymied by the lack of a powerful RAD visual development environment. The existence of an active and vital open source PHP ecosystem with myriad of open source components and options makes the need for an integrated RAD development environment even more critical.

You can check out this new software and all of its features on the CodeGear website.

The International PHP Magazine conducted a poll last week, asking for your opinion on the 'Pre-requisites of a good framework'. The options provided include:

• Strong separation of data
• Web 2.0 support and preferably libraries built in
• Strong naming conventions and smart English recognition
• Robustness (ability to handle large volumes of traffic and data)
• Rapid development features (scaffolding etc.)
• A great IDE (preferably Eclipse)
• Others

The results so far show that two options are neck and neck for users - the correct/strong seperation of data and the framework's robustness for dealing with the loads. Pulling in close behind them is the need for rapid development, making it quick and easy to use.

They talk about:

• component architectures,
• the rich design experience that a framework needs to have,
• the inclusion of being able to drop "back to the code",
• the proper seperatin of model and view
• and the ease of multiple-developer development

There's also a mention of IBM's QEDWiki and the proof of concept that Andi (and crew) presented at the php|tek conference during a keynote (check out this this screencast example for their presentation).