FAQ - (Answers based on personal experiment done yesterday)
What has changed in Zend Framework 2 from Zend Framework 1?
Architecture
ZF1 is based on MVC , ZF2 is based on MOVE. Huge difference. MOVE = Model Operations Views Events , MVC = Models Views Controllers. More here. Zend Framework 2 uses 100% object-oriented code and utilises most of the new features of PHP 5.3, namely namespaces, late static binding, lambda functions and closures. source
Size of installation
The latest ZF1 file is approx 30Mb and ZF2 is approx 2.5Mb (Zipped).
Dependency
ZF1 is core set of libraries and very loosely coupled architecture (with respect to its competitor/player - CakePHP). ZF1 does not require much of 'gems' (as in ruby) but, can do better with plugins. ZF2 requires you to know about composer - phar and soon it may out-match any other framework. New concept : Dependency Injection for Zend fans.
Certification
Certification is available only for ZF1, however, there are rumours about their talks for ZF2 certs though training material is available online.
Conventions
classname in ZF1 was Zend_Db_Table for class in Zend/Db/Table.php whereas in ZF2, it is class My\Auth\Adapter . Enough said.
Community
ZF1 was backed by Zend Technologies (and few other, unnamed). ZF2 has remarkable supporters including Google and Microsoft. Source here
Speed
It took approx 20 times more time to execute "Hello World!" in ZF2. I am not judging here. I could be wrong here. DIY.
Which one should I opt for?
MVC is been around since almost a decade and if you are one of them who are feeling sad for a new architecture altogether then hey! IT is 'your chosen' domain, keep up with the trends and update yourself! Start ZF2 from here.
