I'm new to Zend Framework 2 and I'm trying to build an application for (so far, moderate) "fun" and I need some hints to know how should I structure my application.
I have a existing module that allows me to display some web pages with 2 controllers and a database access.
My application is aimed to use Git's system commands or the GitHub API or the BitBucket API depending on the situation.
I thought of making a interface that "prototype" my methods and make 3 classes that implements it but I don't know if it is possible with the framework, if it is the best way to do it, if I should create a entirely new module to do so, if I should write those methods in diffrerents controllers or if I would be able to call those methods in my current module.
I would really appreciate if you could either answer my questions or provide my a ressource that could help or at least give me some hints.
Thank you
Your thoughts on using an interface sound like the right approach, assuming you want system/Github/BitBucket to be interchangeable.
The rest of your questions relate to organising your app code, to which there is no 'correct' answer, and you are in the best position to judge this; so do what seems most sensible to you. The only thing I'd say is that if you can forsee wanting to use part of the functionality in another application, or wanting to let other people use it, it might make sense to split that part out into its own module.
Related
I want to build a REST API using PHP, but without any framework. By the following requirments:
The code should be as simple as possible with OOP development principles in mind, easy to read and expand
Data should be kept in MySQL and to be returned as JSON in the given format
DO NOT use ANY Framework or ANY already written code, but to have structure
User input data validation
There should be no security issues
At first, I thought I should build complete MVC project, but I realized that actually I will probably don't need any views and I will use Services instead of controllers. And also models for both entities (Articles and Users).
I'm still not sure what is the perfect way to do it, so I will just tell you what I`m thinking so far...Sorry if Its a duplicate post but I haven't found much information about this and from the little I found, I got more confused.
I thinking of a simple router.php class that will have a method:
map($httpMethod, $route, $callback)
So, for example, I will call ("POST", "/users/register", registerUser(params)) or ("GET", "/users", registerUser(params)), just like I would do in a MVC web app.
I think I will need a model and a service for each of both entities. The service will execute the SQL for each CRUD operation. I think I know how to create the service, as it won't be much different than a controller.
But I wonder how can I create the model part for both entities. What exactly I will need for the models as a code?
First of all, it would be nice if you agree that this is the right way and if not, I would love to hear a lot of criticism because I'm currently confused and really don't know where to start.
I agree with you.
And suggest you to know about Loopback, it's good, like what you described.
I know your question is how to build your own rest api without framework, but it sounds like you'd actually make good use of at least some components (not necessarily a whole framework), do you really need/want to write a router from beginning?
if so sure, if no maybe some microframework? anyway, symfony has some info on how you would create your own framework (just as an example), they use couple of their own classes (i.e. httpcomponent), but just for the explanation of idea/way how things you want are done.
https://symfony.com/doc/current/create_framework/index.html
I found this library in PHP for get started with REST API's
php-platform/restful
This requires prior knowledge on using Composer
What I'm looking for is a way to remove the model from a set of PHP files that make up a website. It's difficult (for me) to explain.
By models I mean models in an MVC sense.
As an example say I have this website:
index.php
about.php
shop.php
checkout.php
All of the above PHP files use the same database. I have separated the views by adding templates using a view.php file that renders the correct template with values passed to it.
I am not looking to use a framework that's already out there. I'm looking at writing my own in some senses, with only the bits I need to use in it.
If anyone would like to explain why this is not necessary, or a better way of doing things, then I'm open to that too.
Thanks in advance.
Writing you own MVC framework will take time, but you will learn a lot in the process. So, if you have the time/resources to do it I definitely encourage you to do so.
In this context here are some small pieces of advise that may help you:
Create your domain model first. I'm assuming that you are going in the OO way, so think about your domain problem and create the abstractions that best represent your problem. Try to keep it decoupled from cross-cutting concerns, like persistence.
Test a lot, test often. Try to test (and run your tests) as you create your domain model. This will be specially valuable when in 6 months you add a new feature and want to make sure that you haven't break anything. If you can separate your domain model from anything external (like the persistence layer or third party web services) the testing it is going to be a lot simpler. Today PHPUnit is pretty much the de-facto standard for unit testing in PHP.
You don't have to write everything from scratch. There are a lot of libraries that can help you to ease the development of an MVC framework, so that you can concentrate on what you really want to develop. For example, you could use Slim to handle the page routing or you could delegate the persistence stuff to Doctrine 2.
It is always nice to analyze how other frameworks solve things. You may want to look at products like Symfony or Kohana or even check how Elgg handles its views system. Also, if you want to check out something radically different you can take a look at Seaside's architecture.
Coming back to your original question, for me the key is to keep things from different layers as decoupled as possible. While I have only used the version 1, Doctrine 2 seems like a good candidate for persistence, since it allows you to create a domain model that is quite independent from the DB. This is a huge step. The second thing is how handle the view system. This is quite developer-taste dependent. For example, I like to model everything with objects, so I like Seaside's approach. On the other hand, Elgg's way of handling views is quite nice and maybe fits better with the way things are handled in PHP. Here is when you may benefit on doing some research before deciding on a route to go.
HTH
As someone who has written his own PHP framework, and with the same sensibility as yours, I can tell you that using a framework is a fine thing to do. That said, start by writing your own - you'll gain greater appreciation for the true structure and utility of a framework.
You'll want to learn about the Singleton object pattern. It is a major differentiator in the kinds of objects you can develop in your framework.
When you have written a few models that your files/controllers (presuming MVC) include, you will begin to see where to abstract a 'base mode' from which others extend (hint: the DB singleton).
When you start pulling in configs and the like, then you'll have your first framework object from which all other bases do their extension.
i have a project i took over. it is an app that has been build over many years with PHP and mysql.
It currently has a sort of good folder structure but the code itself is very poor written.
There is php, sql statements and html code in almost every file.
There is javascript code generated using php echo for not reason and so on.
I will like to use for further development either CakePHP or CodeIgniter, even if that means that for the new features some code will be written that already exists (eg.: maybe utility functions) in the old code.
is it possible to integrate one of these frameworks into an existing app?
which one is easier?
do you have any links on how to do it?
thanks.
I have very little experience with CakePHP so my answer is going to be about CodeIgniter. I played with CakePHP for about a day and that was almost two years ago. In my opinion it will probably be easier to integrate with CodeIgniter although someone more experienced with CakePHP might prove me wrong.
Here is the approach I would take. I have never done this, but it seems like a logical way to approach the problem. I suppose this approach would also work with CakePHP.
First, start with a fresh CodeIgniter install using the latest version.
Next, create controllers and actions (controller methods) that mirror the current structure of the application. For example, if you had a page with the URL http://example.com/users/view you would create a Users controller with a view() method.
Next, create view files for each of the current files of the application and load them via the appropriate controller methods. The goal here is to get the application working using CodeIgniter's routing system although at this point you won't be utilizing any models, libraries, or helpers.
Once you have the application sitting on top of CodeIgniter, start refactoring it to fit into the MVC pattern. Pull out application logic (queries, form handling, etc...) from the view files and place them into the controllers. Keep all presentation logic and HTML in the views.
Next, refactor the controllers. This is where it gets tricky because controller code can be placed into models, libraries, or other controller methods. A good starting point would be to take all of the queries and put them into appropriate models. Compare your controllers and see if there is any code duplication. That is a good sign that you should remove it from the controller and place it elsewhere. Unfortunately I can't really tell you where because it differs in each situation.
Continue refactoring your application until you have it in a workable state that you are pleased with...
Hopefully this helps. I certainly missed some critical steps such as setting up and configuring CodeIgniter but if you're serious about doing this I would highly recommend reading through the CodeIgniter User Guide to get a good idea about how it works. You should also get familiar with MVC (model-view-controller) if you aren't already.
There's not really a one size fits all solution here but hopefully I've given you some ideas or at least a starting point to jump off of. If you have any questions or are a little confused drop a comment below and I'll get back to you.
In my opinion, it's easier just to write your controllers in CodeIgniter (I've never used CakePHP) and models, than you just copy paste with some adjustments the views.
I am testing an MVC framework to use in my project and i have few questions regarding the YII.
I have create a model using GII, I know from java the code generation suppose to be a helper and most of the time should not be modified, because you may want to regenrate in the future, how is that suppose to work here?
I have created a CRUD out of the model and it gave a nice gui for it, I want to keep the gui for the admin side but i want to do a different one for the user side, what is the approach here?
If i am deciding to use some ORM in my app, this means that i need to create a different model, and i see that the current model inherits from an other one... problem?
In general
Which is suppose to be faster in terms of load, CI? or YII?
correct me If i am wrong but MVC architecture does not really gives you a way to be really OOP, like java. interfaces, inheritance and polymorphic, it is a nice way to build a nice app quickly, not more than that. I am saying that because your controllers and model are already inheriting some classes.
Thanks
1) Usually models work ok after generation and most of time there's no need to change anything. If you add a field in your database and you need to regenerate it, when you do that you have in gii what's the new code, so you can copy/paste. Usually you don't need to do that, when i add fields to a database I add those fields in the model "by hand". Very easy and quickly, trust me
2) use templates. Create a new template in your layout views, and assign it to the controllers of the front end with $this->layout = '//my//layout';
3) Yii AR implementation is enougth for me. Can't answer to this questions, but you should not have any problem.
4) Depends on what kind of app you are running. I have worked with CI and Yii, i prefer yii for developer time and for speed.
5) You are "right" with that point.
Blockquote
Edited:
http://blog.fedecarg.com/2008/06/28/a-modular-approach-to-web-development/
The above approach is what I'm looking for. So are there php frameworks available which will allow me to create modular structure like above for my code ?
Edited:
Blockquote
I would like to know which is the current best php framework which is 100% modular like joomla component architecture.
In joomla all you have to do is upload a set of files under the "components" directory and you can add "any" kind of complex functionality to joomla.
I want to develop php applications from scratch and I want all of my applications to have the same ease of joomla's component architecture. So Im currently looking for a php framework.
So which is the best way to go about if I want to do the above ?
Should I choose a php framework like codeignitor or zend etc ? but you see, even if is use them, Suppose if I have to create a new function I have to upload files to atleast 3 directories i.e controller, model and view. But you see in joomla all I have to do is upload all the files of course suitably structured into just a single directory called "components" and the rest is taken care of automatically
So what is the best way to go forward ?
Shanthi
Joomla is a CMS system AFAIK so you cant really compare a PHP framework to it.
In terms of modularity Zend Framework has an excellent excellent, simple to implement module structure.
You sat that to add complex functionality to joomla you upload files in the correct structure and joomla does it for you, well as long as you create your module files in the right structure for ZF it will work too......
Your question is same as my question. but it was for 4 months ago.
I tried to find out how can i create such modular system. After some searching I understood that we should have a single directory like 'components' as you said, and put every data of modules in it. but how we should use them ?. Easy !. just create an handler (php file) that control your installation, uninstalling, positioning, settings. In fact i just solve 3 of them. positioning is so hard i think so, i never do it till now.
if you want an example of my explanation, just tell me to create it. I'll send it for you. :)
well i think you are comparing apples to exotic devil fruits or something.
you are adding modules to a cms and exepct the same from a famework.
it doesnt work like this.
the mvc structure you are talking about (model - view - controller) makes a lot of sense and helps you to keep your code organised and to keep up good class coherency.
its a design pattern which has evolved to a de facto standard and has been adopted by almost every framework.
zend framework is probably the best way to go for you.
its layouting engine and stuff is not as fast as one could wish, but it features execellent modularity. you can even partly overload core classes to suit your needs in your "module".
only abstract classes dont work (how should they?), thats why they are almonst never used.
if you really really wanna go with a very flexible excellent system and performance is not the most important point for you, you should get going with magento, which takes the modularity and flexibility even to a higher level by adding an xml structure to zend framework that allows you to organice all your pages, manage your dependencies, rewrite your model componenents etc.
but be a aware that the more you want the more performance you will loose. my personal fav from the frameworks out there is codeigniter, but i designed my own for my needs...
I agree that there is a difference as Joomla et al as CMS's and therefore come in at a higher level of functionality than a framework, but of course with less flexibility.
However you might want to explore Symfony 2 and Lithium (Cake 3?). Both are designed to only use PHP 5.3 and greater and both use the namespace functionality in PHP. I have done less with Lithium but certainly in Symfony 2 everything (well nearly everything is a plugin making the framework modular and much easier to manage.
However you will never be able to compare the two Framework/CMS in exactly the same way as they are both built and designed for different purposes and with varying constraints.
N.B. Neither Symfony 2 or Lithium are production ready at present. Symfony is aiming at March 2011, not clear on Lithium's 1 dot oh date
[edit]
A number of answers here plump for Zend. What needs to be clear is that there are two types of framework (yes ok lot's and lot's) but being simplistic there are Full Stack and Glue.
Glue frameworks like Zend tend to be free and easy allowing you to use some parts and not others as you wish. So although nominally MVC you can easily implement Zend with V and C but not use M. You can write all your database calls manually in the controller etc.
Full Stack such as Symfony mean you pretty well use all of whether you like it or not. On the data side you use and ORM, Doctrine or Propel and a large amount of the framework is controlled from configuration files in YAML/XML. In this respect Symfony is very like Ruby et al. Please note this is not a recommendation or criticism of either.
Joomla in my opinion is gluey (but not a framework) but hey why use something that is 90% built and then rewrite 75% of it? Oh yes because the customer asks and your boss is unaware of the problems, i remember now.