PHP frameworks

Today I visited PHP frameworks and noticed a few PHP frameworks I didn't know yet. I know the mainstream frameworks are CakePHP, Zend, Symfony and CodeIgniter, but I saw some new ones I haven't heard of before, like Zoop, Prado, Yii and Akelos. Also, I read about Kohana.

I tried to get an overview of each framework, also the ones I already tried or heard about. The problem with this is that I am confused. I have used CakePHP for quite some projects and most of the time, it's great. But, I got the feeling there are some things returning in each or some projects for which CakePHP hasn't got the perfect solution.

CakePHP and most of the other frameworks are great for doing some database connection and helping you starting a blog in 15 or 20 minutes, but what's next? Does one of these frameworks have a killer feature?

I downloaded some of these frameworks and did a little testing. Little, not much, so everything I write down here is not based on some scientific report, but its just MHO.

There are a few frameworks I would like to test some more. Like Yii, Akelos, CodeIgniter and Kohana. Yii sounds great. Akelos seems to have a killer feature for me, the admin plugin. This enables me to create a database with my own tables (like CakePHP) but, extend this in a few minutes with a complete user/roles system including a great frontend. Akelos is definitely worth a few of your minutes.

[caption id="attachment_73" align="center" width="300" caption="Screenshot of Akelos admin plugin"][/caption]

This is it for now, maybe I'll be back with some more information on these frameworks, in case you have any experience you want to share the world, let us know!

Build your own search engine in PHP

Do you know how to build your own search engine in PHP? It is not that hard, because there are already some ready-to-use pieces, like Lucene. You just have to think how you want your search engine to work exactly and build the pieces together.



Of course, you can't do in 15 minutes what others took years, but I want to give you just a few hints of how to create your own search functionality. You could use this to index the web, and if you do, let me know so I can stop using Google.

But of course, this stuff can also be used to create your own vertical or horizontal search engine. The magic word is Lucene.

Hey, I'm following livestream of The Next Web, for which day 2 will start at 10:30. So, read on and try writing some cool things, or watch the stream for some inspiration (many startups with short presentations) and get back later to convert your idea to reality.

HOWTO Use Zend Framework in CakePHP

This article will describe shortly how you can extend the power of CakePHP using the Zend Framework. I know, earlier this week I talked about war when writing about these two. But, reactions from Wil and Richard changed my mind a little bit. Richard mentioned about the possibility to use Zend Components within CakePHP. I tested this for myself and it took me only a few minutes.

Zend framework 1.5 released, good?

Zend has released version 1.5 of their framework. I must admit I never really tried it, but the release of the new version made me curious about it. My goal is to develop high quality web applications and I want to use DRYA (don't repeat yourself or another - just thought about that, why would anyone reinvent the weel). I just took a look at their press release and noticed that for at least one person his wildest dreams are coming true...

CakePHP vs Zend Framework comparison

Chad wrote an interesting comparison between CakePHP and the Zend Framework. He has made an overview of the main differences between the both frameworks for now. My first look at his comparison was a little more points for the Zend Framework, but in his conclusion... Hmmm, I'm not gonna spoil this...