This book is more than a tutorial it delivers unbiased comparison of three most popular open-source PHP frameworks: Symfony, CakePHP and Zend Framework. The authors show how to solve certain problems in each one of them: from installation to advanced web services and illustrate these solutions with source code examples and working applications. Each framework has some strengths and weaknesses which are compared extensively and advice is given as to how to use each one most efficiently. Some things are hard to do in one framework, but really simple in another. This comparative approach is unique and highly sought by programmers. In all the chapters all the problems are discussed for all three frameworks, followed by source code examples and comparisons. The book begins with an explanation of the comparative approach and then moves into discussing Symfony, CakePHP and Zend Framework their similarities and differences; then on to getting started with PHP frameworks and the first application, an address book followed by forms, mailing, and searching. Security, templates, AJAX, plugins, integrating web services, backend, internationalization, testing, performance, and support follow. A value-add is an appendix of new PHP frameworks: CodeIgniter, Lithium, and Agavi with code examples and comparisons.
