Web-apps : to framework or not to framework?

Question

I know PHP and am just beginning with MySql (but plan to use ODBC). I don\'t need any books explaining that.

I am probably qualified to develop a simple web site, bu

Answer 1

Frameworks are great for making sure you code to a regimented fashion and that your code is readable. They also offer lots of code library's that will be able to save you alot of time in developing web apps.

Zend framework has a huge amount of code library's that you can include into your app to extend it easily, and for data mining having access to these library's would be very beneficial as I'm sure there are many data mining library's already made for Zend.

Symfony framework great for developing websites quickly and is very strict using innodb for its database tables which insures database integrity and is useful if you intend to develop a strict relational database. The admin generator is also amazingly quick for developing content management systems for websites you design.

If you are going to take on a framework I would look at this tutorial http://anantgarg.com/2009/03/13/write-your-own-php-mvc-framework-part-1/ which walks you through your first MVC(model view controler) framework and is far more simple than jumping straight into a full framework like Zend. I would just follow this tutorial until you have a decent grasp coding in an mvc style, its not really worth re-inventing the wheel due to the amount of time involved and the quality of existing frameworks.

Hope this helps

Luke