PHP/Zend learning resources for a Ruby/Rails dev? - php

Are there any good resources for learning PHP/Zend (perhaps specifically) for a Ruby/Rails dev? Some sort of crash course would be ideal!
I just need to know the basics so I can work on a PHP app that has been built with the Zend Framework.

If you are in the unfortunate position of having to use the ZF, they do have pretty good documentation here, though it's not on par with Rails' (it should be enough to let you work on a legacy app though): http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/.

The PHP documentation is very good. So is the previously mentioned Zend Framework Manual and to put it all together are a couple of good quickStart tutorials:
the first is Rob Allen's ZF 1.x tutorial
The second would be the ZF quickstart
These should get you up and running...

I found the Zend certification study guide was a good reference that covers what you're expected to know. It will give you some perspective: http://www.zceguide.com/

Related

CakePHP 1.3 or 2.0.0-RC2?

I want to start developing in an MVC framework, specifically CakePHP.
I see they have released 2.0.0-RC2 and was wondering if it is a waste of time to start an app in 1.3 when 2.0 is right around the corner. Should I start learning and developing in 2.0-RC2 rather as I'm guessing most of what I will learn in 1.3 now might become redundant soon?
Thank you.
I would advise against starting on a Release Candidate when you are new to the platform or programming pattern - mostly because you won't know the difference between broken/missing functionality and your lack of knowledge.
Start with the stable build, then move to the new hotness once it has an official release.
For now, you can start learning CakePHP 1.3. There is official documentation from where you can start and also you have a lot of examples on internet. When CakePHP 2.0 come stable you will be ready to work with it.
Well .. first of all , i would recommend against use of php frameworks before you have learned enough to understand how they work.
But especially large distance should be kept from Cake and other Ruby on Rails clones in PHP. They all are filled with bad practices, and it is not MVC pattern which they are implementing.
I would start with CakePHP 2.0.0-RC2 as CakePHP 2.0 is the future of CakePHP. CakePHP 1.3.x is outdated in my opinion as it is still PHP4-based...
For documentation, see the cookbook for CakePHP 2.0: http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/ . And if there are questions, ask in the IRC channel, or post in the Google group (or here), and/or read the source code.

Migrating custom coded/developed php project to CAKE php framework

My client wants to Migrating their custom developed php project to cake php framework. But, as of now i have only a bit of knowledge in CAKE. can anyone please let me know where do i get started CAKE php. i have already installed CAKE in my system
Where do you get started? Probably on the CakePHP website?
Seriously, watch some screencasts, download some example apps and mess around with them.
CakePHP has a sweet steep learning curve. I recommend to go with the new 1.3 version.
It is easy to start with the CakePHP Book and the API documentation. When in doubt, just look into the source code, it's all just PHP! Google should be also a good friend of yours. However CakePHP is "just" a programming framework, you must know PHP, ORM, MVC and similar concepts in advance.

Well built php applications to learn from?

I was wondering if any of you would be able to recommend some of your favorite open source php applications in terms of code quality and proper programming technique.
Though I have been using frameworks for quite a while, I would love to see how professional applications go about this.
I'm particularly interested in
MVC
authentication
Thanks a million!
Edit: Perhaps I didn't explain too clearly. What I was looking for most are fully functional applications that have their own built-in custom frameworks. I want to see how a professional level app is built and structured when there's no consideration for it's own framework to be used by others.
That being said, it looks like zend is the way to go! Thanks for the suggestions. I will take a look!
I would recommend the Zend Framework, which supports MVC, Authentication, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Edit: Since I apparently misread, you can probably take a look at source code such as
http://www.manning.com/allen/ZFiA_Code.zip
( From the Manning Zend Framework in Action book )
Another book that provides full source code to a CMS is Pro Zend Techniques:
http://www.apress.com/book/downloadfile/4469
Here's a whole slew of search results for applications tagged with Zend on github:
http://github.com/search?q=zend&type=Repositories&x=0&y=0
WordPress may be a good app to the end user, but it would be bad to learn good PHP code from. I agree that the Zend Framework is an excellent place to start. Not only is there code very good, but they have excellent documentation and tutorials. I would start here: http://www.framework.zend.com/manual/en/
Zend Framework provides both MVC and authentication/access control. For auth and access look at Zend_Auth and Zend_Acl.
This is a good guide to getting started with MVC in Zend: http://www.framework.zend.com/docs/quickstart
Some applications that have been built around the Zend Framework include Magento (an ecommerce engine) and Digitalus (a CMS). Both are open source.
Take a look at the Zend Framework.
It is a great example of object oriented code, using MVC.
There's also a whole set of classes related to authentication, implemented in an easy to understand and extensible way: http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.auth.html

Zend Framework setup

Hai
I want to create a project in Zend framework, but I don't know any idea about how to include this zend framework in to wamp server.
Any one please helps me...?
Thanks in advance..
It seems you need a tutorial to start from scratch, I'd say.
Here are a couple of links that could interest you :
Survive The Deep End! : a free electronic-book about ZF
It's still work in progress,
but the Chapter 4. Installing The Zend Framework is finished, and gives several way to use ZF
Don't forget to read to other chapters too, btw ;-)
The official Quickstart
Those might be helpful, for you to start.
And here are some other resources :
The official Reference Guide -- not quite perfect as a starting point, but contains the documentation of every classes ; you'll work with this one pretty often, I guess !
A couple of screencasts (including one about Installing ZF)
There are also webinars, and a couple podcasts
More advanced, there are interesting articles about ZF on devzone
Of course, you can find books about ZF, too. For instance :
Beginning Zend Framework
Zend Framework in Action
All you need to do is ensure that the Zend/lib directory from the framework download is in your include path.
That should work just as well on WAMP as it does anywhere else.
I haven't configured an IIS server in ages... but it's probably just as easy as a nicely crafted "ini_set('include_path",'..') in your bootstrap script.
Once you've got Zend/lib in your include path, you can include (or autoload) Zend things as needed.
i used this tutorial when i started to work with zf:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/os-php-zend1/
It's from 2006 but you should get the clue.
Have fun!

PHP Zend Framework Generator

I am in the phase of learning Zend Framework for PHP development, I have been doing 'dirty' PHP programming for about 2 years now and I have learnt quite a bit from my mistakes.
I have been introduced to Ruby On Rails, it is a great framework and Ruby is quite an interesting language too, but not everyone wants their web sites to be in RoR, at least not all of my clients.
Hence as a result I do a lot of PHP. Having worked on RoR, I find Zend Framework to provide very similar functionality and environment and hence I am really excited about the same.
However I am interested to know if there are any 'generator' scripts that help you along the process to generate / automate common tasks such as project structure creation, model creation, controller creation, just like those in RoR?
If such a thing already exists, great, otherwise I will go ahead and build such scripts myself as I am very certain they will come in very handy, especially for me.
Zend Tool is your friend!
i have made several code snippets and file types in editor ( netbeans ) to help me with automation.
You could look into zend studio that has a built in integration for zend framework that work quite well, but its commercial and would mean switching IDE's wich is always a burdain
I am working on a code generator for Zend Framework that could be useful to you. It is based off of the Qcubed code generator. Check it out at http://clintberry.com/2010/08/zend-framework-code-generator-with-scaffolding/
This is the best tutorial I found. It explains how to start using Zend Framework step-by-step
Zend Framework Tutorial

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