Building PHP Applications with Symfony™, CakePHP, and Zend® Framework

Chapter 13. Back End

Why so serious?

—Joker, the Dark Knight (Batman)

WHAT'S IN THIS CHAPTER?

• Comparison of various content management systems (CMSs).

• Introducing back-end applications for CRUD operations.

Content management systems (CMSs) are now so popular that they are a well-known standard. It is not really a problem to build a CMS from scratch, but why should you reinvent the wheel? Developing just another CMS when you need one is a waste of time because there are so many really good solutions, and you will certainly find one to suit your needs. The CMSs described in this chapter use proven design patterns and promote best programming practices, which makes using them both straightforward and educative.

But what is really good about these solutions is that they are based on the three frameworks covered in this book and they inherit the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. Another benefit is that they follow their parent framework's structure and conventions, so you don't need to learn how to use a new piece of software, but instead you will feel yourself at home. It's also definitely much easier to add or change some functionalities of a CMS based on your favorite framework.

SYMFONY

Symfony has an extensive plug-in repository, including CMS plug-ins that can be installed directly from the command line. Another way of installing a CMS is to download a prepared package, complete with Symfony and CMS inside. In addition, you can use one more solution that is delivered with Symfony ...