With each other business going online, it has becomes essential for each business owner to strengthen the web presence of his business. Also, it has become important to target the frequently changing trends in technology by using the best web application development framework. In comparison to other server-side languages, PHP is more widely used by programmers to create dynamic web pages. As millions of websites are already built using PHP, the new generation of developers is using the language to avail loads of advantages.
As an open source server-side technology, PHP is effective in drastically reducing the cost of a project. Further, the support for a wide range of web servers and platforms make it easier for developers to build robust web applications without putting any extra time and effort. At the same time, the frequent upgrades and improvements done by a large community of PHP developers also contribute towards making the framework popular to develop a wide variety of websites and web applications. Many developers also use innovative PHP frameworks to boost user experience by availing a set of latest web 2.0 features.
As a fully object-oriented framework, Zend Framework is popular among PHP developers as it allows them to use object oriented programming concepts like inheritance and interfaces. The feature helps programmers in extending most of the components provided by Zend Framework. Also, the developers have option to implement the modified components according to the specific requirements of the web application. The support for object-oriented concepts further makes it easier for them to create unique functionality for a project, along with using the same functionality for multiple projects. If you are yet to migrate to PHP Zend Framework, it is time to understand some of its key features and advantages.
What Makes PHP Zend Framework Hugely Popular among Developers?
1. Model-View-Controller (MVC) Framework: Most developers use MVC frameworks to separate business logic from the user interface. Along with being object oriented, the Zend Framework is also a MVC framework. So it allows programmers to easily avail all types of components for their web application in a single distribution. The components can further be added to the existing PHP stack, or be included with the Zend Server. A developer can simply install the latest version of Zend Framework, and extract the components to use for website development.
2. Large Collection of Classes: The framework is designed as a simple yet comprehensive collection of classes. Along with using MVC components to build a fully functional website, you also have option to simply load the components based on the needs of your project. As the framework is hugely decoupled, you can easily use the components as individual libraries, without using the entire framework. Further, as a glue framework, Zend enables you to glue these components to your existing web applications and websites.
3. Full Support for Databases and Third-Party Applications: The Zend Framework is designed with innovative features to develop web 2.0 applications and web servers. Along with developing a variety of websites and web applications, you can optimize the performance of the apps using Zend PHP web development framework. The framework further allows you to seamlessly integrate databases and application built by third-party vendors. So you can easily pick from a set of databases including IBM DB2, MySQL, Maria DB, Microsoft SQL Server and PostGreSQL to make your web application more dynamic and interactive.
4. Facilitates Test-Driven Development: As a programming technique, test-driven development has become an integral part of rapid web application development. Under this technique, each developer is required to write test scripts for the function before writing code. When the test is written first it makes it easier for a programmer to re-factor his code, pass code from one teammate to another, and think all probable use-cases for the code. The Zend Framework uses PHPUnit, a widely used unit testing framework to facilitate test-driven development. Along with testing controllers, the framework further enables programmers to easily test model functions and libraries.
5. Complete Control over the Code: Each company has to deploy a team of seasoned developers to write fresh code. So, companies often explore options to protect their code. Despite PHP being an open source framework, a business still has option to protect its code through Zend Framework License and BSD license. The feature makes it easier for website development companies to secure and protect the intellectually property rights without investing in expensive proprietary software.
On the whole, the Zend Framework allows you to harness the power of a widely used open source technology with loads of tools, features and security options. Also, the features can be used by the small as well a large enterprises to build web 2.0 applications and web servers to meet the frequent trends in customer demand.