Following in the pattern of his previous articles about parts of Zend Framework v2, Matt Setter has posted this new article focusing on the ServiceManager component of the framework and what roles it plays.

The Zend Framework 2 Service Manager simplifies web application development in a number of ways, primarily by making configuration a breeze. In this, the 4th post introducing Zend Framework 2, you will learn what the ServiceManager is, how to use it and how it simplifies app development time. [...] In this, the fourth and final installment, we look at the ServiceManager component. This is a highly critical, but potentially misunderstood, aspect of the framework. One that, when understood, makes the rest of the framework a breeze (well, close).

He starts by explaining what the intent of the ServiceManager is and how it implements the Service Locator design pattern. Simply put, it's a repository for the objects/services your application needs to run and allows them to be set and fetched easily. He talks some about how to configure the manager and provides a simple code example showing the addition of objects to a manager instance. These objects (factories) are then called via a "get" method and used directly.

This is the burning question in this post. Does it really make web application development simpler? In short, yes. [...] At first it requires effort, it requires discipline and it requires concentration. It's not easy, sure. But with time, this new skill makes doing what you used to do much simpler, such that you do more in less time, with less effort, with less concentration.

Rob Allen has a new post to his site sharing some examples of the configuration possibilities for the ZendServiceManager module of the Zend Framework 2.

ZendServiceManager is usually configured in two places: an array in a config file or a method within your Module class. In either case, you provide a nested array of configuration information. [...] Within the service_manager array, there are a set of nested arrays which are generally used to configure how you want a given class to be instantiated. the names of these sub-arrays are hardcoded, so you just need to learn their names and the difference between them.

He lists out each of the options and includes a brief example and description for each. Values include "invokables", "aliases" and "initializers". He also touches on controllers, view helpers and controller plugins and how they hook into the ServiceManager.

The this recent post to his blog Reese Wilson looks at using one of the modules of the Zend Framework v2, the ServiceManager, as an inversion of control container in your app.

In Zend Framework 1, it was difficult to follow best practices when it came to writing testable code. Sure, you could make testable models, but once you need those models in a controller, what do you do? Zend Framework 2 makes it much easier. In this post, I'll cover the basics of injecting a model into a controller. The main goal here is to be able to wire up and configure your application from the highest level possible. Constructor injection + inversion of control makes it easy to determine which classes are dependent on other classes.

He creates a "Building" module and a "BuildingController" inside of it. This controller takes in an instance of a "Building" model as a dependency. He also shows how to define this dependency in the "getControllerConfig" method of your module to make it work automatically. He makes the "Building" model itself with no dependencies and sets it up as an "invokable" in that same "getControllerConfig" method.

In his latest post Matthew Weier O'Phinney introduces you to the new init() method in the Zend Framework 2 controllers and how it differs from the one in version 1.

In Zend Framework 1, controller's had an init() method, which was called after the controller was instantiated. The reason for it was to encourage developers not to override the constructor, and thus potentially break some of the functionality (as a number of objects were injected via the constructor). init() was useful for doing additional object initialization. [...] But this feature is missing from ZF2; how can we accomplish this sort of pattern?

In Zend Framework 2, there's no Controller constructor by default anymore, so you have to do things slightly differently. He shows you how to use the event manager to simulate the same thing, attaching an event to the "dispatch" of the controller to do the work. He came back and updated the post with a second method that could do the same thing - using the ServiceManager from inside a module and attaching the event that way.

Evan Coury has posted a quick guide to one of the major features of the Zend Framework 2 project so far - the ServiceManager. He introduces the component and talks about some of its key features.

So, what is the ServiceManager? Basically it's a registry, or container (the proper term is service locator) to hold various objects needed by your application, allowing you to easily practice Inversion of Control. The service manager holds just the information needed to lazily instantiate these objects as they're needed. So if you were thinking 'services' such as those composing a service layer, you might be better off thinking of the service manager more as an "object manager" or "instance manager".

He mentons some of the functionality that comes with the component including invokables, factories, aliases, initializers, configuration classes and abstract factories. He also links to the ServiceManager quickstart over in the Zend Framework 2 documentation for more information.

As Rob Allen mentions in his latest post, the latest revision of the Zend Framework v2 has been released and is ready for testing - Zend Framework 2 beta4.

Earlier this week, we got beta 4 of Zend Framework 2 out of the door. This version has some very significant improvements in it which mean that if you're following along at home with the betas, then you're going to be doing a bit of updating! Most of the B/C breaks are noted in this thread.

He's also made updates to his Zend Framework 2 tutorial to match these most recent changes. He points out three key new features - the ZendServiceManager, ZendForm and ZendInputFilter updates and the introduction of Composer support to pull packages.