[Codin]

I have been programming in PHP about a year now and I still consider myself a beginner. I see articles on the internet about frameworks like Zend I do not understand what they are and how they could help me become a better PHP programmer. So should I be working with a framework or not? I what to continue to grow in PHP and I do not what something that does my thinking for me or my coding. So I look forward to seeing what your opinions are. Thanks in advance. Codin

[codeprada]

In my opinion I don't believe using frameworks makes you a better programmer. Frameworks are in my words a lot of ready made functions, objects etc...bundled into one package. They separate business logic from presentation. They also speed up production time by having usual tasks ready made and applied with a simple function call, eg.. Zend_Form which is used to create forms fast and easy. Frameworks are mostly used on large applications where there are multiple developers involved. It allows the designers to work with programmers a lot easier. It's also used to keep your site organized.

From the advantages you must be wondering why people aren't using frameworks in every application. They aren't needed to achieve what was said above. If you can however achieve code separation and organization along with centralizing common tasks without a framework then I think you're better programmer than those who can't do it without a framework.

I would suggest however learning to use frameworks since a lot of businesses use them. It will make you more marketable and also give you insight to many ways to make your other applications better.

This post has been edited by codeprada: 15 November 2011 - 03:42 PM

[CTphpnwb]

You shouldn't use frameworks when you're still learning the language. If you're comfortable with OOP and your code is readable enough that you have no problem editing code you wrote months ago then you're ready to start with frameworks.

I'd also say that for small jobs frameworks are an unnecessary drag on the system. Why load all those framework files when a short PHP file and an HTML file will do?

[Codin]

codeprada, on 15 November 2011 - 03:42 PM, said:

In my opinion I don't believe using frameworks makes you a better programmer. Frameworks are in my words a lot of ready made functions, objects etc...bundled into one package. They separate business logic from presentation. They also speed up production time by having usual tasks ready made and applied with a simple function call, eg.. Zend_Form which is used to create forms fast and easy. Frameworks are mostly used on large applications where there are multiple developers involved. It allows the designers to work with programmers a lot easier. It's also used to keep your site organized.

From the advantages you must be wondering why people aren't using frameworks in every application. They aren't needed to achieve what was said above. If you can however achieve code separation and organization along with centralizing common tasks without a framework then I think you're better programmer than those who can't do it without a framework.

I would suggest however learning to use frameworks since a lot of businesses use them. It will make you more marketable and also give you insight to many ways to make your other applications better.

Thank you that was a very insightful and helpful answer I think I am going to hold off on the frameworks and continue in the way I am going.

CTphpnwb, on 15 November 2011 - 03:53 PM, said:

You shouldn't use frameworks when you're still learning the language. If you're comfortable with OOP and your code is readable enough that you have no problem editing code you wrote months ago then you're ready to start with frameworks.

I'd also say that for small jobs frameworks are an unnecessary drag on the system. Why load all those framework files when a short PHP file and an HTML file will do?

Thank you for your answer. Your answer has helped me because I am still learning I am going to leave the frameworks alone for now but I am going to start learning about them so I am ready to use them when it may become necessary.