Alan Seiden’s Information Technology

New developers sometimes struggle with putting all of Zend Framework’s pieces together. This week someone asked me how to resolve the error:

Fatal error: Class ‘Zend_Db_Table’ not found.

The answer: he needs to “require” the file containing the Zend_Db_Table class, like so:

require_once 'Zend/Db/Table.php';

or (my preference) use the autoloader:

// ZF 1.8 or later: add these lines to your bootstrap file:
require_once 'Zend/Loader/Autoloader.php';
$loader = Zend_Loader_Autoloader::getInstance()->setFallbackAutoloader(true);

ZF isn’t complicated if you know the few things you MUST use. The autoloader is one of them.

If you need help getting started with Zend Framework, contact me about Zend Framework mentoring, training, or troubleshooting.

This year’s ZendCon (Oct. 20-22, 2009, in San Jose, Calif.), the premier PHP conference, features several presentations about developing with PHP on the IBM i, including one by me!

Come hear me speak about “Zend Framework for Enterprise PHP on IBM i” on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, at 4pm.

For details, go to http://www.zendcon.com.

We won! IBM has recognized my use of PHP and Zend Framework, and our entire team’s RPG/DB2 and design work, by naming our web solution the IBM i’s most innovative of 2009.

At IBM’s 2009 COMMON conference, IBM awarded the Power Systems Innovation Award for Best Web Solution for eBiz@ABG. The site, developed with my colleagues at  Strategic Business Systems, Inc., was created for New Jersey’s largest wine and spirits wholesaler, Allied Beverage Group.

The system offers product ordering, live inventory levels and pricing, and a full-text search of Allied’s large product catalog. The application was built with Zend Framework (the leading PHP framework) and runs entirely on Allied’s IBM i, leveraging Allied’s db2 database and time-tested RPG logic.

The site is password-protected, so unfortunately I can’t link to it here.

eBiz@ABG is one of the first sites to be built with Zend Framework on IBM i (System i, i5, iSeries, AS/400). It was a true collaboration with Allied, made easier because we all spoke the language of “i.” What’s more, by using large chunks of Allied’s existing RPG code that already handled the complex business logic, we saved time and avoided reinventing the wheel.

Zend Framework worked so well that I committed to mastering it and teaching the community about it. (ZF has a learning curve, but after that curve is mastered, ZF speeds development and offers easy maintenance and growth.) I earned my Zend Framework certification in August 2008, becoming one of the first 50 worldwide to do so and the first ZF-certified “i” professional. Since then, I’ve gone on to be a ZF/i mentor for other development teams, and have become a public speaker, sharing my PHP/ZF/i roadmap at conferences.

Thanks to Allied for the opportunity to collaborate on a great project; thanks to Strategic Business Systems for the support; and thanks to IBM for the award.

When people ask me how to study for the Zend Framework certification test, here’s my answer:

• First—and I hope this goes without saying—you should already be fairly skilled in developing with Zend Framework, or least with some of its components. Then you’ll have internalized the ZF “style” and will be ready to study the components you haven’t used yet. (To get started with ZF, try the “quick start” tutorial or consider formal training.)
  
  
• Then download the free ZF Certification study guide. It’s just a guide, so don’t expect it to explain Zend Framework in its entirety, or even in the clearest way. The guide will, however, indicate which topics to study and what sorts of questions will be asked. Given that knowledge, you can use other resources to answer your questions as they arise.
  
  
• Each component is explained in the Zend Framework Programmer’s Reference Guide. It’s well written and is organized by component, such as Zend_Acl, Zend_Auth, and Zend_Form. Also included are Zend’s coding standards and a performance guide.
  
  
• Whenever I got confused, I went right to the Zend Framework source code. As a developer, I can digest code faster than I can read a manual. So I recommend reading the code in your favorite IDE whenever you have doubts. You’ll also learn how the developers structured their code, which will help when you need to understand or extend ZF’s functionality for your future projects.
  
  

In addition to these resources, Zend now offers training for Zend Framework certification. If you prefer a structured approach, this might be for you.

No matter how you study, the certification process will make you a better ZF developer. In my case, I learned about unfamiliar components and deepened my understanding of the familiar ones. I also got really comfortable delving into the ZF code.

Good luck to everyone!