Zend Framework 2.0 by Example: Beginner's Guide

by Krishna Shasankar V

ZF2 is the latest update to the well-known Zend Framework. This version has considerably eased the process of building complex web applications with minimal development effort using plug and play components. ZF2 also provides a highly robust and scalable framework for developing web applications. "Zend Framework 2.0 by Beginner’s Guide" will guide you through the process of developing powerful web applications using ZF2. It covers all aspects of Zend Framework application development right from installation and configuration; the tasks are designed in a way that readers can easily understand and use them to build their own applications with ease. "Zend Framework 2.0 by Beginner’s Guide" begins with the basic installation and configuration of the Zend Framework. As you progress through the exercises, you will become thoroughly acquainted with ZF2. With this book, you will learn about the basic concepts of building solid MVC web applications using Zend Framework 2.0. The detailed step-by-step instructions will enable you to build functionality such as a group chat, a file & media sharing service, search, and a simple store to name a few. You will also use a wide range of external modules to implement features that are not natively available. By the end of the book, you will be well versed in building complex, functionality-rich web applications using Zend Framework 2.0. "Zend Framework 2.0 by Beginner’s Guide" provides everything that you need for building functionality-rich web applications with simple real world examples and tasks. "Zend Framework 2.0 by Beginner’s Guide" is a step-by-step guide that aims to empower you to build web applications packed with some really exciting features using Zend Framework 2.0. If you are a PHP Developer who is new to Zend Framework, but you want to get hands-on with the product quickly, this book is for you. Basic knowledge of object oriented programming with PHP is expected.

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Occasionally I am asked to review a software development book and I am always happy to do so, as I don’t get to read nearly as much as I’d like. Today’s book is a subject I am very well versed in, Zend Framework. “Zend Framework 2.0 by Example: Beginner’s Guide” by Krishna Shasankar V is a newer book available from the fine folks over at Packt Publishing. This is the first book I have read that covers the 2.0 branch of the Zend Framework. As some of you might remember I started using Zend over 5 years ago on a huge SaaS based platform, and I have kept up with the development of this MVC framework ever since.

This book is exactly what it claims to be, a beginners guide. The author takes the time to help you setup a working environment using the Zend Server Community Edition packages, unfortunately the examples on how to install are all in Linux so any Mac or Windows users will need to refer to the Zend site on any questions they may have on how to install, not a big deal. One of the first things I noticed that is a slight negative is that the author has you install the PHP 5.3 version, and PHP 5.3 is now deprecated, that might be something to add to an addendum chapter. While ZF2 supports PHP 5.3, I’d prefer beginners to use a supported version regardless.

If you peruse the table of contents, you will see that the book covers a wide range of concepts, including: HTML5, mobile, Lucene Search (a personal favorite), etc. The framework is huge, and if you ever expect a book to include every topic, you are dreaming, and this list seems like a good assortment of goodies for the beginner. The main goal of any beginner book is to give you the tools necessary to learn on your own after you complete the examples. This book also sprinkles a bunch of quizzes to demonstrate your understanding of the materials.

Two of the aspects of the book that are exciting ones for me are the Zend\Form and Zend\Lucene chapters. The form chapter does a good job covering the basics of creating forms in the framework including validation, model interaction, and an example integration with Zend\Authentication. It is always nice to see two different topics being covered by one example, it lets you put it all together, so that is a great plus for a beginner here. Lucene on the other hand is a very complex topic and a chapter in a beginners book was surprising to me, because it is rather advanced. This book does a good job of breaking it apart in terms of how to add data, index, and search. There is even sample code for indexing MS Office documents contents which is something I have personally had to deal with in the past, kudos right there.

So, while this book is a beginners book, it does cover a wide range of interesting topics. It’s delivery is still for basic knowledge, so if you are looking for something more than a cookbook type approach, I’d stick with other more advanced books. But still very impressed by the topics covered.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

When at first I saw this book I was thinking it is yet another boring Zend Framework 2 book. For my surprise, I was wrong. I found it containing a lot of useful information, being full of working and real-life examples along with many interesting ideas. Many books talks a lot about theory, theory and more theory, missing what is the most important - exercises on working, practical code. While theory is important thing too, without a lot of practice theory have no practical use. Many physics students knows how jet engines works, but how many of them are actually able to build them? The same is with programmers. If a programmer knows only theory, he cannot build big, complex applications.

Zend Framework 2.0 by Example, as the title says itself, understands this problem very well. The book is strongly focused on practice, consisting in many examples and working code rather than just dry theory. This way, reader after finishing his reading will already have written a few really useful scripts which later can use in own projects. He will be able to write the code - not just knowing the theory behind it.

Summarizing, I am fully satisfied from the reading. As a Zend Certified Engineer and experienced professional web developer I want to recommend this book for everybody who wants to learn how to write applications with Zend Framework 2 in short time.