Zend is an open source PHP framework. It is pure object-oriented and built around the MVC design pattern. Zend framework contains collection of PHP packages which can be used to develop web applications and services. Zend was started by Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski. This tutorial will give you a quick introduction to Zend Framework and make you comfortable with its various components.

Audience

This tutorial has been prepared for professionals who are aspiring to make a career in Zend framework. This will give you enough understanding on how to create and develop a website using Zend.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the various types of components given in this tutorial, it is being assumed that the readers are already aware about what a Framework is. In addition to this, it will also be very helpful if you have sound knowledge on HTML, PHP and the OOPS concepts.

Introduction

A PHP Web Framework is a collection of classes which helps to develop a web application. Zend is one of the most popular PHP framework. It is an open-source MVC framework for rapidly developing, modern web applications. Zend Framework has several loosely coupled components, so it is referred to as “Component Library”. Zend Framework provides any PHP stack and Zend server to run Zend framework applications.

Zend Studio is an IDE that includes features to integrate with Zend Framework. It provides MVC view and code generation. The current Zend framework 3.0 includes new components such as JSON RPC server, a XML to JSON converter, PSR-7 functionality, and compatibility with PHP 7.

Zend Framework 2 is an open source framework for developing web applications and services using PHP 5.3+. Zend Framework 2 uses 100% object oriented code and utilizes most of the new features of PHP 5.3, namely Namespaces, Lambda Functions and Closures.

Zend Framework 2 evolved from Zend Framework 1, a successful PHP framework with over 15 million downloads. Zend Server has a free community version and a commercial version.

Zend Framework Features

Some of the salient features of Zend Framework is as follows −

• Pure object oriented web application framework
• Advanced MVC implementation
• Supports multi databases including PostgreSQL, SQLite etc.,
• Simple cloud API
• Session management
• Data encryption
• Flexible URI Routing
• Zend provides RESTful API development support.
• Code reusable and easier to maintain.

Why Zend Framework?

What makes the Zend Framework one of the premier frameworks used by PHP developers is that – it provides clean and stable code complete with intellectual property rights. It also makes programming easier. It is fast, easy to learn and convenient framework. Zend supports strong cryptography tools and password hashing techniques.

Zend Goals

Following are the goals of the Zend Framework.

• Flexibility
• Simple and productive
• Compatibility
• Extensibility − Programmer can easily extend all the framework classes.
• Portability − Supports multiple environments

Zend Applications

The following popular products are developed by using the Zend Framework.

• McAfee Company website
• IBM Company website
• Magento − one of the popular shopping cart website.

Advantages of Zend Framework

Some of the advantages of the Zend Framework are listed below.

• Loosely Coupled − Zend provides the option to delete modules or components which we don’t need in the application.
• Performance − Zend Framework is highly optimized for performance. Zend Framework 3 is 4x faster than its previous version.
• Security − Framework supports industry standard encryption.
• Testing − PHPUnit is integrated with Zend so you can easily test the framework.

In the next chapter, we will learn how to install the Zend Framework.