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I am building an application currently in PHP and I am trying to decide on whether to use a pre-existing framework like codeigniter or build my own framework. The application needs to be really scalable and I want to be completely in control of it which makes me think I should build my own but at the same time I dont want to reinvent the wheel if I dont have to.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Use an existing framework.
First of all creating a framework from scratch represents a massive investment in time and effort. The process involves a lot of trial and error, because you're designing something that needs to be both simple and powerful. For every design decision you'll have to ask yourself how it will affect every single future project that will be built on your framework.
You'd think that you could take each design decision and weigh it against the requirements like you would do for any other software project, but the thing is you don't know your requirements. You can't know them, because a framework is supposed to be able to do almost anything (or have the ability to be extended to do almost anything) within its domain. Future project a will need to be able to do x. Can your framework allow that without turning it into spaghetti code? And what if project b needs to do y? What if project c needs to do z?
Have you predicted everything?
Now the normal response to this is that if something doesn't work, you'll just change it in the future. It's software after all. A framework however isn't like a simple application. It's supposed to have an interface and once you expose that to the software that will be using it, you can't change it. You can extend it, but not change it. So now you have to think about deprecating methods, api versions and version compatibility. It's a whole new set of problems to deal with along with normal framework maintenance and new application writing.
Then there's documentation. You need an API, tutorials, example code. Once you build your own framework you have to deal with this as well. You could ignore it, but I assure you that eventually you yourself will need to find out what that method you wrote 6 months ago does. What does it return? What if special case x happens? Have you written all that down, or do you need to step through the code again? And I wont even mention how easy it will be for a new team member to get started on a custom framework whose documentation lies completely or at least mostly in your head.
You also have to acknowledge that unless you're working with the very best and brightest (and have a budget to match) you'll never have the extensive set of libraries that existing frameworks boast. Can you analyze, design, code, test and debug faster than an open-source community?
Finally you should ask yourself if you are proficient enough to be writing a framework. Have you dived deep into the code of a modern OO PHP5 framework to find out what makes it tick? And most importantly do you know why it does things that particular way? Keep in mind that any mistake you make in your design can blow up in your face months from now and you can end up paying for them over and over again.
To sum things up I'd advice you to go with an existing framework; it doesn't mean however that you have to pick one and like it. Take the time you'd otherwise devote to developing a new framework and devote it to learning an existing one. Then you can extend it to fit your needs. Also remember that there could be things you wont be able to do. But I assure you there would be things you wouldn't be able to do with your own framework either, so it doesn't matter all that much. A framework imposes a few limitations. It's the price you pay for being able to develop applications faster.
Make a list of requirements for your framework (ORM, PHP 5.3, PDO, etc). Then iterate over the existing frameworks and narrow them down to find the ones matching with your requirements. Then look at the codebase, documentation, community, project activity – does it feel something you would like to work with? Also be realistic about the time needed to to implement all your requirements by yourself – do you want to focus to building an application or a framework?
I'm building my own and I'm very glad I did in terms of learning, which is important to me. Also I LOVE to be in total control of my code. It comes with lots of negatives though, the big one being I'm the only one that knows how to use it. Also, a lot of development time is spent on improving my framework rather than delivering products to my clients. But I can't stress enough that I really, really enjoy building and using it.
If you want to learn (A LOT) build your own. If you just want to get work done use an existing one. (Before starting my own I almost went with CodeIgniter)
While I've build my own CMS framework in the past, and used custom (in-house) general php frameworks, I'd find an active framework that fits your development style, and use it.
Unless your main product/application is the framework. But it doesn't seem that way.
Your concerns about control and scalability should be applied to the host of frameworks out there - giving you a short list of options that fit your requirements.
Certainly, it's not a question of 'in-house' vrs 'public', then once you've made that call just pick any old framework.
To answer the question behind the question, for a framework that gives you complete control and should be able to scale reasonable well (I'm not sure how you need the framework to scale), I would suggest the Zend Framework. You can use single parts of it, rewrite what you want, and it's far more than just a MVC implementation.
Update: A quick example of customization with Zend. If you don't want to use their MVC stack, but need something to route requests, you can just use Zend's router library. If you like the MVC stack, but hate the way the router works, you can just implement the interface and write your own router.
This applies outside the MVC stack as well. Zend has a ton of libraries for mail, rss feeds, caching, auth, db, etc. Use what you want, and ignore the rest. Extend what you want, most of the framework is tiered with interfaces/abstract/generalized classes that you can build on if the standard functionality doesn't suite your needs.
The decision is very plain and simple.
If you want to learn and have full control - go for your own
If you want just to make money fast - go for ready made one.
I work in a company that initially wrote its own framework, built by a guy that worked here. It was only used on one project. The reason for this is that we soon realized that although it was clever and very good, there was no documentation for it. So if we employ another developer or a freelance guy, they'd have to learn it.
We run with CakePHP for a while, which is popular, but it does seem a mess. We eventually settled on KohanaPHP. Easy to extend, some good documentation (probably not up there with some others though), nicely formatted code (meaning if you can't find documentation you can quickly work out whats going on). The way the framework is written makes it pretty easy for a developer to pick up and follow what is going on. Whereas we always had trouble doing this with CakePHP.
I think the only argument for rolling your own framework is that you may want some highly customised stuff. But Kohana is so easy to extend, you can just throw it in there. You don't have to use their packed libraries if you really don't want to.
That said, some project I don't bother with a framework at all, just some sort of routing solution, like GluePHP. Since it would be overkill to use a full stack framework.
If you were just trying to practice, I'd suggest writing your own. Otherwise, though, definitely go with using an existing one. Symfony ftw.
The short answer is symfony2 IHMO.
The reasons are:
do not reinvent the wheel
a good wheel is better than yours (others are professional wheel makers,
since a lot of time)
an OSS framework can be expanded or modified, even only inspected
first or later you will not have time to maintain your own wheel
a number of eyes and hands do it better than 2!
Of course the previous points are valid for a very small set of professionally made frameworks! My favorite is symfony2, but there are a number of good alternatives.
Now, given how new I am, I'm rather lost as to how I get started. Down the road, I want to use MVC framework so that I help myself be disciplined in the way I build. However, I know basic knowledge of PHP and OOP PHP are required. So my question is this: what are the right steps to mastering Cake PHP? I don't want to skip critical phases of learning before learning to Cake PHP. At the same time, I don't want to spend more time than required learning PHP if I can learn it directly through Cake PHP knowledge.
Any advice would be appreciated.
IMHO you should be comfortable writing at least a basic app in clean standard procedural code before using a framework. That means mastering all the basic elements of the language like if and switch, loops, functions, local and global variables, etc. It also includes being comfortable with HTTP GET and POST, RESTfulness and how to persist information between page loads (Cookies, Sessions, URL params). A basic idea of Javascript and AJAX would help as well.
Good exercises might include:
A page that outputs database contents and is paginatable, filterable and sortable by various fields.
A shop checkout process or similar "wizard"-like page.
That's when you can pick up a framework, since most frameworks abstract exactly these kinds of tedious things away from you. Especially Cake has a lot of automagic built in, which will leave you hopelessly confused if something goes wrong and you have no knowledge of the above mentioned. To start with OOP, you might want to try something like Zend first, which is a lot more transparent in how objects are used.
Deceze gives good advice, though I disagree that REST is a core concept for learning PHP. You can author a perfectly successful web app that isn't using the concept at all, and I don't think that you'd be hurt by learning it along with a framework.
The rest of his advice is good, however, and, so that you aren't out there on your own just crawling the web, I heartily recommend PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Websites by Larry Ulman. It won't teach you (much) about OOP, but it will give you a very solid foundation in PHP and MySQL, as well as how the two play together. More importantly, you'll cover a lot of core programming concepts applied to practical examples in PHP. This book was fundamental in my development as a programmer, providing baby steps and advanced techniques that made it a lot easier for me to digest more complex topics later on.
For a start, use the Cookbook
Although, I'd strongly suggest getting familiar with PHP itself first - any introductory level PHP book should suffice.
This one was by far the most useful for me
Build Your Own Database Driven Web Site Using PHP & MySQL, 4th Edition
http://www.sitepoint.com/books/phpmysql4/
It went through all the basics in a very logical way, and then challenged you to take some first steps on your own.
After reading this book, I'm at the same point. Whats the next step to understanding OOP, and implementing a framework like Cakephp...
This isn't a question about what framework to use. I've learned both Rails and Django, and I write all of my webapps in PHP. My question is why bother with the frameworks? It's always taken me longer to use a framework than to reuse old MySQL code and build "models" with phpMyAdmin. I also like writing everything myself, because I know what's going on. I can still reuse functions, etc. and do things how I want, and this freedom seems to be missing from most frameworks.
I'm not saying that my way is right; in fact, I'm trying to figure out where my logic fails. The hype can't be just thin air. What am I missing?
The basic idea of a framework is to allow you to work at a higher level of abstruction and write only the code you have to write to implement your specific requirements. All the other repetitive stuff is handled for you by the framework, and probably with far fewer bugs and security holes than if you did it yourself.
It may feel like it takes longer to learn a framework than to just do it yourself using basic language features and standard APIs, but it's simply not true - not if the framework is good and the app is non-trivial, and especially not once you have learned the framework (using a different one for each new project would of course be idiotic) and factor in the time it would take to find and eliminate all the bugs and correct all the design mistakes that have long since been found, eliminated and corrected in the framework by its developer community.
Almost every developer has cowboy coder instincts that tell him "Doing things yourself is much more fun than using code others have written, and I'm sure I'm good enough to get it right the first time, so it will even be faster and better!". These instincts are almost always wrong.
Frameworks allow you to concentrate on the application itself rather than worrying about the boilerplate code that you'd otherwise have to write for every application. They allow you to structure you site in a much more logical (mostly object-oriented) way, using tried and tested design patters such as model-view-controller. The code in framework is generally more mature and of a higher standard than code you would write yourself for one-off projects as framework have a large community of developers perfecting the code perfecting the code over year. This means that framework-driven sites often perform better and are much more secure.
You also mentioned you like writing things yourself - I know where you're coming from. My solution to this was to write my own framework - I get to reuse and improve my code with every project I do and I know the entire codebase inside out.
Writing it your self may make it easier for you to understand things your self but unfortunately it can make it much harder for other developers to understand what is happening. Frameworks will often be better documented and have a larger community that can support a new developer that is working on the app that you wrote.
I think a big part of it is what you focus on. Frameworks standardize the parts that you shouldn't have to keep revisiting, which helps you focus on the application as a whole. If you reuse your own code all the time you're already using your own makeshift framework.
Your comparing a framework (Rails) to a language (PHP). A framework is going to give you pre-built components so you can spend time on what makes your project unique.
You may already have a code base that helps do this for you. Check out some of the PHP frameworks since that's where you are more comfortable. Take a look at CakePHP, CodeIgnitor and/or Zend Framework.
If you are building many small apps/sites, using a framework may make your life easier.
I think a good step for you is to create your own framework with the code you've programmed so far. ;)
Try to make your code parametrizeable, in other words: create components which you can reuse in different parts of a website (for instance: styled containers), or in different websites (form generators/validators).
You can even go further and create base-classes from which you extend new classes to build your websites. (for instance: data objects with generic select/insert/update/delete methods).
I bet this gives you the best view on why frameworks are so damn handy ;)
It'll take you longer to initially use a framework for the same reasons a PHP developer would take longer to initially use Ruby - you're not familiar with it.
Once you're familiar with them, frameworks can offer the ability to skip the mundane and focus on actually writing the important parts of the app.
You should also just use a PHP based framework like Symfony or CakePHP using them should reduce your production time considerably.
One reason to use a frame work is code separation. Take symfony for example. The model is all done with propel or doctrine libraries. Very little SQL needed. You instantiate a new object and user getters and setters, to store your data, and instead of writing SQL in your page code you create functions in the objects related to the query. When you need to access the same kind of data on different pages you are asking the model for it, keeping the business logic with the model where it should be, so there's never any difference. All the work is done in the "action controller function". You get all the data you need, and then put as little php in the display, basically just echoing the variables you got in the action controller, (with the exception of some for loops and if statements for conditionals. I have found this a more efficient way to code, and on my 2nd project saw the production time cut in half.
You don't need to learn a new language python/ruby just to use a great framework, just have to fin one that works for you.
First, PHP has frameworks too, so the question as stated misses the point.
Yes, you can write your own framework, and as Kris said, there's no shame in that. However, part of the leverage of code reuse is the collective value of the efforts of many. It's not just about reusing your own code. Frameworks encapsulate the common tasks and patterns we all share and provide well tested solutions with many iterations of improvements from the community. No individual effort is going to measure up to that, no matter who you are.
If you roll your own, it will only become world class due to the collective effort of world class people, and that will only happen if your idea merits the attention. The top frameworks out there are already proven on those criteria.
DHH is a smart guy, but the Rails we have today never could have been realized by him alone. Not even close.
If you like "writing everything yourself" as you say, then choose a framework with a core philosophy that matches yours, and start making core contributions in the areas where you can see room for improvement.
Depending on the functions of your Web Application, it can be faster to develop without a framework. For example when the Webapp is just some kind of data viewer.
But as soon as you begin to implement more advanced functions, you are much more efficient with a framework.
Try do do this from scratch:
- proper Form validation
- Handling of multiple Language and Date/Time formatting
- Authentication
See a framework as free tools and stable implemented function for you to use.
Sounds to me like you have already written your own framework in php, since you do mention code reuse.
I can imagine it being easier to use your own set of wheels instead of adapting to someone else's. No shame in that.
Frameworks are there mainly to help people who are semi-new to PHP (or the specific language it is built on) to be able to build a website to an extent that it is secure and easy enough to add on extra parts to the site without having to know a lot about the specifics like security, MySQL (or other database types). In my opinion it is a fairly good way to help break coders into a language, allowing for the fact that the framework isn't too complex of course.
EDIT The reason behind me saying they are for beginners is because myself, as a beginner has used frameworks to break myself into languages a lot better.
I have a relatively simple application up and working with some basic functionality which i have built as a bit of a project. I would like to now build on that, and add some more complex features, including login.
The code has got quite complex, and it's written in plain php, so all the presentation code is mixed in with the logic. I have decided that before I go any further I'd like to re factor it to separate this out, so it's easier to maintain and add to. I've been researching MVC and think that's the way i should be going.
I had decided to give the zend framework a go, and have spent a while trying to get to grips with it, however I have found the learning curve extremely steep as I have no object oriented experience.
Is there another framework or option that anyone could recommend? I am considering having a look at cake based on reading other posts in this forum but I'd accept any guidance - my "requirments" are
easiest to learn for non OO experience
includes some login / authentication features
handles database interaction with mysql easily.
All suggestions appreciated!
As stated very eloquently here already, frameworks are good until you want to do something they're not suited for, plus they can abstract the language to the point where you're effectively learning them rather than the language you're coding in.
I would encourage you to roll your own. If you understand the principles of MVC and you have a fair-to-middling knowledge of PHP then it won't be too hard (there's already several pointers around), plus you'll come out of it far further ahead than if you'd just used someone else's.
Smarty templating engine.
http://www.smarty.net/
I've personally used Symfony. It's a very complete and well-supported framework which is relatively easy to get started with. My experience with frameworks is that for simpler projects they can be quite a burdon.
The people at my workplace swear by Cake. It does seems to be quite flexible and certainly fast to develop with once you know it. However, I would echo da5id and say that it's always safest to build your own - you know exactly how it works, you get some good PHP experience (instead of Cake experience), and you don't have to spend hours either fighting with it to get it do do what you want, or reading up on how to use it in the first place.
I am not at all convinced that "MVC" really exists as a paradigm in PHP incidentally - the V and the C are so hopelessly intertwined in most cases because the form is the view.
Build yourself a code generator that will output PHP classes based on your database tables. If you're really clever you can get it to inspect the database for relationships and even build the joins in PHP too. Then create a second set of classes that each inherit from the table-based-class that lets you customize its behaviour. Rely on these secondary classes in your business code. (It's a form of the Generation Gap pattern)
In addition to being a framework, Fat-Free also has its own templating engine that goes beyond just variable substitution. It allows you to invoke functions and class/object methods along with familiar PHP-like expressions.
I want to create a 100% object oriented framework in PHP with no procedural programming at all, and where everything is an object. Much like Java except it will be done in PHP.
Any pointers at what features this thing should have, should it use any of the existing design patterns such as MVC? How creating objects for every table in the database would be possible, and how displaying of HTML templates etc would be done?
Please don't link to an existing framework because I want to do this on my own mainly as a learning excercise. You will be downvoted for linking to an existing framework as your answer and saying 'this does what you want'.
Some features I'd like to have are:
Very easy CRUD page generation
AJAX based pagination
Ajax based form validation if possible, or very easy form validation
Sortable tables
Ability to edit HTML templates using PHP
I've gone through many of problems on your list, so let me spec out how I handle it. I am also OOP addict and find object techniques extremely flexible and powerful yet elegant (if done correctly).
MVC - yes, hands down, MVC is a standard for web applications. It is well documented and understandable model. Furthermore, it does on application level what OOP does on class level, that is, it keeps things separated. Nice addition to MVC is Intercepting Filter pattern. It helps to attach filters for pre- and post-processing request and response. Common use is logging requests, benchmarking, access checking, caching, etc.
OOP representation of database tables/rows is also possible. I use DAO or ActiveRecord on daily basis. Another approach to ORM issues is Row Data Gateway and Table Data Gateway. Here's example implementation of TDG utilising ArrayAccess interface.
HTML templates also can be represented as objects. I use View objects in conjunction with Smarty template engine. I find this technique EXTREMELY flexible, quick, and easy to use. Object representing view should implement __set method so every property gets propagated into Smarty template. Additionally __toString method should be implemented to support views nesting. See example:
$s = new View();
$s->template = 'view/status-bar.tpl';
$s->username = "John Doe";
$page = new View();
$page->template = 'view/page.tpl';
$page->statusBar = $s;
echo $page;
Contents of view/status-bar.tpl:
<div id="status-bar"> Hello {$username} </div>
Contents of view/page.tpl:
<html>
<head>....</head>
<body>
<ul id="main-menu">.....</ul>
{$statusBar}
... rest of the page ...
</body>
</html>
This way you only need to echo $page and inner view (status bar) will be automatically transformed into HTML. Look at complete implementation here. By the way, using one of Intercepting Filters you can wrap the returned view with HTML footer and header, so you don't have to worry about returning complete page from your controller.
The question of whether to use Ajax or not should not be important at time of design. The framework should be flexible enough to support Ajax natively.
Form validation is definitely the thing that could be done in OO manner. Build complex validator object using Composite pattern. Composite validator should iterate through form fields and assigned simple validators and give you Yes/No answer. It also should return error messages so you can update the form (via Ajax or page reload).
Another handy element is automatic translation class for changing data in db to be suitable for user interface. For example, if you have INT(1) field in db representing boolean state and use checkbox in HTML that results in empty string or "on" in _POST or _GET array you cannot just assign one into another. Having translation service that alters the data to be suitable for View or for db is a clean way of sanitizing data. Also, complexity of translation class does not litter your controller code even during very complex transformations (like the one converting Wiki syntax into HTML).
Also i18n problems can be solved using object oriented techniques. I like using __ function (double underscore) to get localised messages. The function instead of performing a lookup and returning message gives me a Proxy object and pre-registers message for later lookup. Once Proxy object is pushed into View AND View is being converted into HTML, i18n backend does look up for all pre-registered messages. This way only one query is run that returns all requested messages.
Access controll issues can be addressed using Business Delegate pattern. I described it in my other Stackoverflow answer.
Finally, if you would like to play with existing code that is fully object oriented, take look at Tigermouse framework. There are some UML diagrams on the page that may help you understand how things work. Please feel free to take over further development of this project, as I have no more time to work on it.
Have a nice hacking!
Now at the risk of being downvoted, whilst at the same time being someone who is developing their own framework, I feel compelled to tell you to at least get some experience using existing frameworks. It doesn't have to be a vast amount of experience maybe do some beginner tutorials for each of the popular ones.
Considering the amount of time it takes to build a good framework, taking the time to look into what you like and loathe about existing solutions will pale in comparison. You don't even need to just look at php frameworks. Rails, Django etc are all popular for a reason.
Building a framework is rewarding, but you need a clear plan and understanding of the task at hand, which is where research comes in.
Some answers to your questions:
Yes, it should probably use MVC as the model view controller paradigm translates well into the world of web applications.
For creating models from records in tables in your database, look into ORM's and the Active Record pattern. Existing implementations to research that I know of include Doctrine, more can be found by searching on here.
For anything AJAX related I suggest using jQuery as a starting point as it makes AJAX very easy to get up and running.
Creating your own framework is a good way to gain an appreciation for some of the things that might be going on under the hood of other frameworks. If you're a perfectionist like me, it gives you a good excuse to agonize over every little detail (e.g. is should that object be called X or Y, should I use a static method or an instance method for this).
I wrote my own (almost completely OO framework a while ago), so here's my advice:
If you've worked with other frameworks before, consider what you liked/didn't like and make sure yours gives you exactly what you want.
I personally love the MVC pattern, I wouldn't dream of doing a project without it. If you like MVC, do it, if you don't don't bother.
If you want to do JavaScript/AJAX stuff, do use a JavaScript library. Coding all your own JavaScript from scratch teaches you a bit about the DOM and JavaScript in general, but ultimately its a waste of time, focus on making your app/framework better instead.
If you don't want to adopt another framework wholesale, take a look at whether there are other open source components you like and might want to use, such as Propel, Smarty, ADOdb, or PEAR components. Writing your own framework doesn't necessarily mean writing everything from scratch.
Use design patterns where they make sense (e.g. singletons for database access perhaps), but don't obsess over them. Ultimately do whatever you think produces the neatest code.
Lastly, I learned a lot by delving into a bit of Ruby on Rails philosophy, You may never use RoR (I didn't), but some of the concepts (especially Convention over Configuration) really resonated with me and really influenced my thinking.
Ultimately, unless your needs are special most people will be more productive if they adopt an existing framework. But reinventing the wheel does teach you more about wheels.
At the risk of sounding glib, this seems to me like any other software project, in this sense:
You need to define your requirements clearly, including motivation and priorities:
WHY do this? What are the key benefits you hope to realize? If the answer is "speed" you might do one thing, if it's "ease of coding" you might do another, if it's "learning experience" you might do a thid
what are the main problems you're trying to solve? And which are most important? Security? Easy UI generation? Scalability?
The answer to "what features it should have" really depends on answers to questions like those above.
Here are my suggestions:
Stop what you're doing.
It's already been done to death.
Click this Zend Framework or that CakePHP or maybe even this Recess Framework.
Now, my reasons:
... if you've worked with developers at all, you've worked with developers that love reinventing the wheel for no good reason. This is a very, very common failure pattern.
... they would go off and write hundreds and thousands of the crappiest languages you could possibly imagine ...
... "Oh, I'm gonna create my own framework, create my own everything," and it's all gonna be crappier than stuff you could just go out and get ...
from StackOverflow Podcast # 3.
So, save yourself some time, and work on something that solves a problem for people like a web app that lets people automatically update Twitter when their cat's litter box needs cleaning. The problem of "Object Oriented PHP Framework" is done. Whatever framework you slap together will never be as reliable or useful or feature rich as any of the freely available, fully supported frameworks available TODAY.
This doesn't mean you can't have a learning experience, but why do it in the dark, creating a framework that will grow into a useless blob of code, leaving you without anything to show for your time? Develop a web app, something for people to use and enjoy, I think you'll find the experience incredibly rewarding and EDUCATIONAL.
Like Jim OHalloran said, writing your own framework gives you a very good insight into how other frameworks do things.
That said, I've written a data-access layer before that almost completely abstracted away any SQL. Application code could request the relevant object and the abstraction layer did lots of magic to fetch the data only when it was needed, didn't needlessly re-fetch, saved only when it was changed, and supported putting some objects on different databases. It also supported replicated databases, and respected replication lag, and had an intelligent collection object. It was also highly extensible: the core was parameter driven and I could add a whole new object with about 15 lines of code - and got all the magic for free.
I've also written a CRUD layout engine which was used for a considerable percentage of a site. The core was parameter driven so it could run list and edit pages for anything, once you wrote a parameter list. It automatically did pagination, save-new-delete support etc etc, leveraging the object layer above. It wasn't object-oriented in and of itself, but it could have been made so.
In other words, a object-oriented framework in PHP is not only possible, it can be very efficient. This was all in PHP 4, BTW, and I bumped up against what was possible with PHP 4 objects a couple of times. :-)
I never got as far as a central dispatch that called objects, but I wasn't far away. I've worked with several frameworks that do that, though, and the file layout can get hairy quickly. For that reason, I would go for a dispatch system that is only as complex as it needs to be and no more. A simple action/view (which is almost MVC anyway) should get you more than far enough.
I initially started creating my own framework with similar ideals to your own. However, after a couple of months I realised I was re-creating work that had been done many times over. In the end I found an open source framework which was easily extendable and used it as a basis for my own development.
The features I implemented myself:
MVC Architecture
Authentication object
Database access class
URL rewriting config
Pagination class
Email class
Encryption
The features I looked at and thought, forget it! I'll build on top of someone elses:
Caching class
Form validation class
FTP class
Plugin-ability classes
Of course, writing a framework that outperforms the open source options is possible, but why would you bother?
It's true that some developers reinvent the wheel for no good reason. But because there are already good frameworks around doesn't mean that it's a waste of time doing one yourself. I started on one a while ago with no intention of using it for anything more than an exercise. I highly recommend doing it.
I've got the perfect link for you my friend: http://nettuts.com/tutorials/php/creating-a-php5-framework-part-1/. This is an awesome tutorial I have looked at, and its not too overwhelming. Plus look around the PHP section of that site I saw an article on CRUD. As for the AJAX look elsewhere, but you have to start somewhere, and this tutorial is awesome.
Note: this tutorial has 3 parts and I think it brings up MVC in the second instalment, but starts the first part using other methods.
The one, huge selling point I would look for in a new framework is that it would make writing testable code easy.
We typically work with Zend Framework, and it's mostly awesome, but trying to unit test/test drive ZF-based code is not far short of masochism.
If you could provide a framework that replaces the MVC parts of ZF with something that allows us to write testable code, whilst still allowing us to use the library parts of ZF, I will - quite literally - buy you a beer.
I'll buy you two beers if you ditch the AJAX. There's a huge gulf between an OO PHP framework and a JavaScript framework.
Please don't link to an existing framework
I will not, I started writing my own for learning purposes, and took a peek into some of the mainstream frameworks, and even with my limited knowledge see so many mistakes and bad ideas in them.
They're built by hardcore developers, not end users.
I'm in no way saying I could write better than the "big boys" but I (along with most of you I imagine) could point out why some things they do are bad, even if just because they're not end user/non-developer friendly...
I wonder how your framework is doing, some 6 years on?
Are you still working on it? Did you stop?
Should You Write Your Own Framework
This is probably a little late for you, but for anyone else, writing your own framework is a fantastic thing to do for learning purposes.
If, however, you are wanting to write one other than learning purposes, because you cannot work out the one you are using, or because it's too bloated, then do not!
Believe me, and don't be insulted, you would not be here contemplating it if you are a knowledgeable enough developer to do so successfully!
Last year I wanted to learn OOP/classes, and more advanced PHP.
And writing my own framework was the best thing I did (am actually still doing), as I have learned so much more than I anticipated.
Along the way I've learned (to name a few):
OOP/Classes many best practices which come with it - such as
Dependency Injection, SRP
Design patterns, which help you write code and structure your system
in such a way that it makes many things logical and easy. For an
example see Wiki - SOLID
Namespaces
PHP Error Handling and all of the functionality which that provides
A more robust (and better) understanding of MVC, and how to apply it
appropriately (as there is no clear cut way to use it, just guides
and best practices).
Autoloading (of classes for OOP)
Better code writing style and more structured layout, and better
commenting skills
Naming conventions (it's fun making your own, even if based on
common practices).
And many other basic PHP things which you invariably come across accidentally from reading something.
All of this not only vastly improved my grasp of PHP and things which come with it, to a more advanced level, but also some of the commercially/widely used methods and principles.
And this all boosted my confidence in using PHP in general, which in turns makes it easier to learn.
Why Write a Framework To Learn All of This
When you start out, you learn the basics - A (variables), then B (how to write a basic function), etc.
But it doesn't take long when you're trying to learn more advanced things, that to learn and use D and E, you also have to learn and understand F, G, H, and J, and to know those you have to know K, L, and M, and to know parts of L and M you first need to understand N and O...
It becomes a minefield as trying to learn one thing brings the need to first learn a few other things, and those other things often bring a need to understand various other things.
And you end up a mile away from where you started, your mind tingling and shooting sparks from it, and about 20 tabs open all with various advanced PHP things, none of which you are 100% comfortable with.
But over time, with practice and most certainly dedication, it will all fit into place, and you'll look back at code, even a collection of files/classes, and think "Did I write that.."?
Writing a framework helped greatly with this "minefield" because:
I had specific tasks to do, which brought about the need to learn and
implement other things, but specific things. This allowed me to focus
on less things at once, and even when something branches off to
various other things, you can reel it back in to where you started
because you are working on something specific. You can do this with
any learning, but if you do not have some goal, or specific task you
are focusing on, you can easily get distracted and lost in the ether
of things to learn.
I had something practical to work with. Often reading tutorials about
an animal class, and how cat and dog classes extend animal etc,
can be confusing. When you have a real life task in your own
framework, such as how do I manage XYZ, then you can learn how
classes work easier because you have trial and error and a solid
requirement which you understand, because you created the
requirement! Not just theory-like reading which means nothing
usually.
I could put it down when my mind was blown, although as it was my
framework (my Frankenstein's monster in the beginning :P) I wanted to
press on, because it was interesting, and a personal goal to learn
and sort the next stage, to resolve an issue I was stuck with, etc.
You can do it how you want. It might not be best practice, but as long as you are trying to learn best practice, over time you will improve, and likely easier than just reading tutorials, because you are in control of what and how you do something.
Wait, I Shouldn't Re-invent the Wheel Though
Well, firstly, you cannot reinvent the wheel, it is impossible, as you will just make a wheel.
When people say "Don't reinvent the wheel", they of course mean "there are already frameworks out there", and to be fair, they are written by skilled developers.
That's not to say the frameworks don't have problems or issues, but in general they are pretty solid, secure and well written.
But the statement is nonsensical in relation to writing your own framework!
Writing your own framework for learning purposes is really useful.
Even if you plan to use it commercially, or for your own website, you haven't just "re-invented the wheel", you've made something else.
Your framework won't be like the others, it won't have many features and functionality, which might be a major advantage to you!
As long as you understand about best security practices etc, because you can think you are writing a great system, which is super fast and without all the bloat other frameworks have, but in fact you have holes in places which someone could crawl into...
But a project for learning which you don't use on the internet is ideal - or use it, eventually, when you are advanced enough to know it's secure!
With all that said, you should write your own framework IF:
You are not needing it any time soon! It takes a lot of time as
there are so many aspects to consider, learn, and trial and error
leads to refactoring (a lot at first!)
You are willing to read, code, test, change, read, code, and read
some more. There is a lot of good advice on the internet for advanced
PHP, most of it mind blowing at first, like reading all the design
patterns. But they eventually make sense, and end up helping you
resolve problems you face, and how to do things within your
framework.
Willing to put the time in, and keep trying to improve, and head
towards best practice, especially with security. Speed issues shouldn't be an issue with a small framework, and besides, if you have a fairly decent system, you can usually refactor and make speed improvements. usually if you have significant speed issues it means you've chosen intensive operations, which can usually be addressed by doing it a different way.
.
Without previous experience, or an advanced knowledge of PHP, you will likely spend some time writing a framework, further reading and knowledge will show you that your approach is skewed, and so you might delete everything and start again.
Don't be disheartened by this.
I did exactly that, as I learned so much advanced patterns and ways of doing things along the way in the first month, I ended up where refactoring was no good, and a blank canvas with a whole new approach was the only option.
However, this was quite pleasing, as I saw a much better structure take form, and I could see not only a better framework foundation start to take place, but realised it was because I had a better understanding of advanced PHP.
Just do it! Just make sure you have a plan of what you want it to do before you even write some code.
Seriously, write down on paper how you are going to load error checking, are you going to have auto loading, or include files when needed? Are you going to have a centralised loading mechanism, which instantiates classes when you need them, or some other method?
Whatever you do, and whatever stage you are at, if you are heading into new territory, plan it first. You'll be glad of it when you hit a brick wall, can go back to your plans, and realise a slight deviation to your plans will resolve it.
Otherwise you just end up with a mess and no plan or way to re-deign it to resolve the current problem or requirement you face.
You are looking to build exactly same thing I've worked on for a few years and the result is Agile Toolkit.
Very easy CRUD page generation
$page->add('CRUD')->setModel('User');
AJAX based pagination
All pagination and many other things are implemented through a native support for AJAX and Object Reloading. Below code shows a themed button with random label. Button is reloaded if clicked showing new number.
$b=$page->add('Button')->setLabel(rand(1,50));
$b->js('click')->reload();
Ajax based form validation if possible, or very easy form validation
All form validations is AJAX based. Response from server is a JavaScript chain which instructs browser to either highlight and display error message or to redirect to a next page or perform any other javascript action.
Sortable tables
Table sorting and pagination has a very intuitive and simple implementation when you can really on object reloading.
Ability to edit HTML templates using PHP
This seems out of place and a wrong thing to do. Templates are better of in the VCS.