I’ve been digging for a long time in this framework: CakePHP. Nothing new here, I just wanted to shout that I love working at the bakery!
After many projects in web apps, mainly using PHP, I’ve noticed the huge amount of time that any developer spends creating support structures – such as: database connection, reading/writing data, form validation, basic string functions, etc. A framework can reduce this waste of time, letting you focus on what really matters: user interaction, services and data.
The most famous framework, nowadays, is Ruby on Rails, which combines multiple programming paradigms and fits like a glove in agile software development models. Includes nice features as scaffolding (so damn cool!), Active Record, MVC structure (so KISS!!), etc. Cool, huh? Maybe at first sight… I’ve spent much time trying to read the RoR Bible, but I get quite lost in Ruby’s details. Good framework, complex language.
The founders of CakePHP took the RoR concepts and created a whole new framework, combining the best features from both worlds. Since I prefer to read (and write) in PHP, they’ve created something highly useful for me. Combined with the traditional web dev artillery, there is a plugin for syntax highlighting and the other old buddy for content upload. For the skeptics, here is the traditional demo: how to setup a blog in less than 15 minutes.
EDIT: However… I hate when they change the API. That’s why they call it “beta”… :)