For PHP coders, the Zend Framework offers that same promise without the need to move away from PHP. This powerful collection of components can be used in part or as a whole to speed up the development process. Zend Framework has the backing of Zend Technologies; the driving force behind the PHP programming language in which it is written. The first production release of the Zend Framework became available in July of 2007.

Zend Framework in Action is a comprehensive tutorial that shows how to use the Zend Framework to create web-based applications and web services. This book takes you on an over-the-shoulder tour of the components of the Zend Framework as you build a high quality, real-world web application. This book is organized around the techniques you'll use every day as a web developer "data handling, forms, authentication, and so forth. As you follow the running example, you'll learn to build interactive Ajax-driven features into your application without sacrificing nuts-and-bolts considerations like security and performance.

This book is aimed at the competent PHP developer who wants to master framework-driven web development. Zend Framework in Action goes beyond the docs but still provides quick access to the most common topics encountered in the development of web applications.