Zend Framework Released

banetbi writes "The new Zend Collaboration Project website is finally online. Included in the site is a completely new PHP Developer Zone and a pre-release of the Zend Framwork."

Comments

Re:wtf is it?

[croddy]

Zend is a software company focused on PHP. In addition to the Zend Framework (mentioned in the article) they produce a PHP IDE called Zend Studio, and tool called Zend Optimizer said to improve PHP execution times (it also runs "encoded" applications by PHP developers who do not wish to disclose their source code).

Zend Platform

[truthsearch]

I just noticed the Zend Developer Zone is "powered by" the Zend Platform which claims it's "the only robust PHP production environment that ensures your applications run smoothly at all times."

I'll be sure to not tell all of my clients about it as they'll wonder what's wrong with the PHP builds we're running now.

Re:Zend Platform

[Unknown Relic]

Let's not take that quote out of context, you have to read the rest of the overview:

"Zend Platform uniquely guarantees application uptime and reliability through enhanced PHP monitoring and immediate problem resolution that removes the troubleshooting guesswork out of the equation and replaces it with peace-of-mind."

They aren't saying that PHP as a platform isn't good enough, they're saying that Platform helps ensure your applications run smoothly. Platform is essentially a combination opcode cache, partial and full page cache, and in depth monitoring and event logging. If the applications you are running experience a problem - be it a fatal error, warning, unusually slow performance, slow sql query or whatever custom metrics you define - you can be alerted right away. You're also able to reproduce any event that has been logged instantly through the IDE's debugger. Basically, it keeps things running nice and quickly, and when an issue in the application causes a problem, it gives you the information needed to quickly fix the problem.

We've actually been running Platform since it was first available, and while pricey it's been a great tool to have. It's not perfect and there are some issues that I'd still like to see resolved, but none of them have been show stoppers. I wish they would offer a cheaper version with just the logging functionality though, there are cases where we really don't need anything else.

Re:Woof.

[pkieltyka]

You mentioned that the Zend framework is behind other MVC PHP efforts, which PHP MVC framework would you consider to be the farthest along with a clean and well thought-out implementation?

Zend Framework has many promising features, especially it's Zend_Db classes. Things like Zend_Db_Table, Zend_Db_Table_Row provide very helpful tools when building systems. In addition, the query-building feature is a nice bonus when query compatibility is important across databases like MySQL, Oracle, MSSQL.

Just curious, but have you read the manual on their framework? I wouldn't say its enough to read the roadmap and make an opinion on its direction.

And for those developers crying about PHP4 backwards compatibility, give it up, PHP4 is dead and leaving.

Re:Always wonder...

[Davorama]

No big mystery there.

PHP was the easiest thing to learn and do useful things with at a time when everybody was jumping on the .com bandwagon.