Zend Framework is built with object-oriented PHP 5 and requires PHP 5.1.4 or later. Please see the system requirements appendix for more detailed information.
Once an appropriate PHP environment is available, the next step is to get a copy of the Zend Framework, which may be officially obtained by any of the following methods:
Download the latest stable release. This version, available in both
.zipand.tar.gzformats, is a good choice for those who are new to Zend Framework.Download the latest nightly snapshot. For those who would brave the cutting edge, the nightly snapshots represent the latest progress of Zend Framework development. Snapshots are bundled with documentation either in English only or in all available languages. If you anticipate working with the latest Zend Framework developments, consider using a Subversion (SVN) client.
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Using a Subversion (SVN) client. Zend Framework is open source software, and the Subversion repository used for its development is publicly available. Consider using SVN to get the Zend Framework if you already use SVN for your application development, want to contribute back to the framework, or need to upgrade your framework version more often than releases occur.
Exporting is useful if you want to get a particular framework revision without the
.svndirectories as created in a working copy.Checking out a working copy is good when you might contribute to Zend Framework, and a working copy can be updated any time with
svn update.An externals definition is highly convenient for developers already using SVN to manage their application working copies.
The URL for the trunk of the Zend Framework SVN repository is: http://framework.zend.com/svn/framework/trunk
Once you have a copy of the Zend Framework available, your application needs to be able to access the
framework classes. Though there are
several ways to achieve this, your PHP
include_path
needs to contain the path to the Zend Framework library.
One of the Zend Framework's most useful features is its implementation of the Front Controller and Model-View-Controller (MVC) patterns. Get started with Zend Framework MVC!
Since Zend Framework components are rather loosely coupled, various components may be selected for independent use as needed. Each of the following chapters documents the use of a particular component.