Zoopy launches a RESTful API
Mar 5, 2009 8:00:21 PM
As I announced today on Zoopy's blog, Zoopy's RESTful API has been launched. The first version is admittedly quite humble – it contains only read operations – but it'll continue to grow as we get feedback and suggestions.
A new, improved Zoopy
Dec 5, 2008 11:15:08 AM
So it's been just about three months since my last post. I've been neglecting my blogging duties because I've been working pretty much non-stop during that time on rebuilding Zoopy. The new, improved Zoopy launched on Sunday night after a grueling weekend of copying files, migrating databases and last-minute bugfixes.
Integrating Twitter with a ZF blog
Aug 6, 2008 8:29:13 PM
I've been wondering for a while how I could better communicate with Codecaine.co.za's readers when I publish new posts, or when someone comments on one. I've ruled out email updates as being too intrusive, and while I have implemented RSS feeds both at the post level and at the comment level, I find them to be too passive. Twitter, I've decided, provides an excellent middle ground.
Bite-size ZF: Module-specific models
Jul 19, 2008 8:17:07 AM
If you're like me, you like to use different classes to represent the same model in different modules. The rationale is quite simple: by using different classes you're encapsulating module-specific business logic within that module. For instance, a user model in an admin module may require functions related to access control, whereas the model's counterpart in a website module might need functionality to send messages to other users.
Compound elements with Zend_Form
Jun 17, 2008 4:51:57 PM
Zend_Form can save you a lot of time. It almost completely abstracts away the most boring and error-prone aspects of developing secure and standards-compliant HTML forms. But one thing it doesn't do out of the box is compound elements, such as three-field dates. In this post I'll show you the easiest way to do this ZF-style.
Analysis of coupling within the Zend Framework
Jun 5, 2008 10:10:16 PM
One of the Zend Framework's strongest drawing cards, as I see it, is its loosely-coupled structure. The name Zend Framework may be a misnomer, in fact, as ZF is more a set of reusable libraries than an actual application framework. I won't go into detail about the advantages of loose coupling, but a recent discussion on the ZF mailing list prompted me to investigate just how loosely coupled the framework is.
The future of AJAX in the Zend Framework
May 27, 2008 8:59:34 PM
If you haven't yet heard, Zend Framework has officially announced its partnership with the Javascript framework Dojo. As Matthew made clear in his post, the bundling of Dojo into the framework would not break its use-at-will principle, but that the integration would provide an out-of-the-box Ajax solution.
Selling the Zend Framework in a Corporate Environment
May 17, 2008 6:00:51 PM
If you haven't yet listened to Wil Sinclair talk about Zend Framework 1.5 then I suggest you head over to the Zend Developer Zone. This podcast really spoke to me about a battle I've been waging at the office to sell the Zend Framework, so I thought I'd outline some things the framework has going for it.
Mysql pseudo-inheritance with Zend_Db
May 15, 2008 7:23:57 PM
I've spent the last couple of days musing to myself about Zend Framework's extensibility. One particular feature that's always intrigued and impressed me is the way that Zend_Db handles rowsets and rows fetched by the Zend_Db_Table class: using inheritance it's possible define custom behaviour on both types of objects. As a demonstration of this, I thought I'd explore the concept of database object inheritance.
Form-level errors with Zend_Form
May 10, 2008 10:21:42 AM
One feature that I believe is lacking from an out-of-the-box Zend_Form setup is form-level errors. Form-level errors are not tied to one particular element; instead, they apply to the form as a whole. Examples might include 'Invalid login credentials' (which applies to entire login form), or 'There was an error processing your form' (if a database query fails). These types of error messages are not catered for.
