Professional PHP

Computerworld has more information on Zend PHP Framework:

“PHP as a language isn’t isolated and people are going to be building SOA types of applications using XML and SOAP,” said Rod Smith, vice president of emerging technology at IBM.

“So the idea is to have an Eclipse plug-in here to leverage content [and] leverage the assets that have a Web services interface on it” and link to Java back-end systems, Smith said.

Both the Eclipse plug-in and development framework will be offered free.

ZDNet adds:

In addition, Zend will publish a PHP “framework,” or set of reusable PHP codes, also under an open-source license. The framework will allow third-party software companies to create add-ins that work in conjunction with Zend’s flagship product, Zend Studio.

Is Zend PHP Framework an add-in API for Zend Studio? You too can make a “Refactor single quotes to double quotes” plugin.

Perhaps some esoteric Java integration capability? Good News Everyone! Now your sloppy php web front end can grovel even lower before our mighty and wise java back end. I, for one, welcome our new Java overlords. I’d like to remind them that as guy with a blog I could be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground SOAP caves. **

Don’t flush yet, Davey.

Why build when you can acquire? Maybe ZPF is PRADO with IDE support? Prado 3 is due “later this year.” But then, so is eZ publish Enterprise Components.

A Struts clone? Thats so 2004.

A Rails clone? It would be pretty obvious who the competition is then.

Is Zend PHP Framework a component model? The best thing that could happen to PHP would be a standard component model. I’m just not sure that PHP 5.1 has all the language pieces in place for that yet. Unless they go with the java style accessor methods - ok if you are the vendor of a tool that auto-generates accessor method code, big suck if you have even a small awareness of Ruby.

I know nothing, but this speculation is almost as much fun as Crazy Apple Rumors.