Zend Framework in Action

Ben Scholzen has written an article about using multiple Zend_Cache objects in your application.

When creating a huge application, you mostly have to keep caching out of your development environment, but want to fully control the caching backend in your production environment, without all the calls to the Zend_Cache factory in your models or controllers. I had to struggle with the problem in the past sometimes, and came to the conlusion, that a singleton-factory would solve this issue very well.

He then goes on to show code samples of how to create a factory of cache objects for use in your application.

Posted by Rob on 16th April 2009 under Around the web | Comments Off

Some how I missed this, but Colleen Dick has published a review of Zend Framework in Action!

This is the good bit:

But the main thing is that they build a real web app, complete with a lot of the typical messiness web apps entail. It’s one thing to talk about a class, function, or method in crystalline isolation, but when I see it in use in something I can relate to in the real world, that’s when it clicks for me. Plus, there is actually ZF functionality devoted to handling those messy “real world” details, such as deciding what stylesheets, includes, and javascripts to load for a particular page.

Head over and read the entire review as it also has some fair criticisms.

As always, don’t forget you can ask questions over at the forum.

Posted by Rob on 15th April 2009 under Around the web & Reviews | 1 Comment »

Matthew Weier O’Phinney has just posted the first of a series of articles on Zend_Form’s decorator system.

Zend_Form decorators all implement a common interface, Zend_Form_Decorator_Interface. That interface provides the ability to set decorator-specific options, register and retrieve the element, and render. A base decorator, Zend_Form_Decorator_Abstract, provides most of the functionality you will ever need, with the exception of the rendering logic.

I strongly recommend that everyone reads it!

Posted by Rob on 3rd April 2009 under Around the web | Comments Off

Jim Plush has written a good article on why he chose Zend Framework for Enterprise usage.

He talks about the problems maintaining multiple sites in different technologies and lists the key reasons that he decided on Zend Framework including that there are books available.

He also covers development practices that he uses to help maintain the quality of the code.

Well worth a read.

Posted by Rob on 26th March 2009 under Around the web | Comments Off

I’m a little behind on this one, but earlier this month, Tom Graham posted an article on preventing CRSF properly by sending back a 403 Forbidden if the Zend_Form_Element_Hash validation fails.

Well worth a read.

Posted by Rob on 14th March 2009 under Around the web | Comments Off

Whilst, Zend Framework in Action covers how to use the ActionStack front controller plugin, there are distinct disadvantages to using it. These are not covered in the book, however, Ryan Mauger has posted an article on why the ActionStack is evil.

Everyone should read it. Then if you decide to use the ActionStack, you are aware of the trade-offs.

Posted by Rob on 12th March 2009 under Around the web | Comments Off

Pádraic Brady has been posting a 3(ish) part series all about page caching with Zend Framework:

Page Caching is the process of caching entire generated HTML documents for a period of time so that the expensive task of dynamically generating them is avoided for that period. Done correctly, it should completely bypass the Zend Framework MVC stack. This can net you incredible results!

It’s a long read, but very well worth it.

Posted by Rob on 19th January 2009 under Around the web | Comments Off

Ralph Schindler has created a semi-official PEAR channel for Zend Framework.

If you like installing via PEAR, then check out pear.zfcanvas.org.

Posted by Rob on 9th January 2009 under Around the web & News | Comments Off

The folks at Manning have started the New Year with a 31% discount if you use the coupon code ja1331. Why not buy a copy of Zend Framework in Action, PHP in Action or jQuery in Action and save some money?!

I probably won’t bother posting all the great ways you can save with Manning though, so if you want to keep up, consider subscribing to their newsletter.

Posted by Rob on 7th January 2009 under Around the web | Comments Off

I noticed this in my email this morning. For today only (29th December 2009), you can use the coupon below to save 50% on any print books purchased at Manning’s website! Just enter coupon code dec29 on checkout.

Posted by Rob on 29th December 2008 under Around the web | 2 Comments »