The Zend Framework in Practice

The crucial first stage of the bootstrapping process involves directing all requests for web pages and web services to the index.php file. On Apache, this is done by using mod_rewrite. The module needs to be enabled on the application’s web server; it also needs to be permitted for the application’s public web directory (htdocs). (more…)

A Zend Framework application usually has the following basic structure. The application resides in a directory somewhere on the web server. The precise location depends on a number of factors. This directory will contain the following sub-directories:

• The public web directory: This is normally called htdocs on Apache, although it can have other names. This contains the files that should be accessible to the outside world; it will also contain any special system files that are used to control and modify requests, in particular the Apache .htaccess file.
• The application directory: By convention this is called application, although you could name it something else. It contains the implementation files.
• The library directory: This directory, which is usually named library, is optional, depending on the precise server set-up. It is intended to contain the Zend Framework files, plus any other libraries that the application uses. However, in an environment such as Zend Server, the Zend Framework is automatically installed and added to the include path, so the directory and its contents are not necessary.

The bootstrap mechanism works by using a set of key files located in these directories. (more…)

I have been distracted from doing much PHP development for a while now, because of the work I have been doing on a large C++ project. For the last couple of weeks, since this project came to an end, I have been catching up with developments in the Zend Framework. In particular, I have been looking at how to structure an application around the new Zend_Application class. (more…)