The Zend Framework

Zend recently released their first preview release of the Zend Framework. At first I looked at it, and thought maybe when it matures I'll start using it in ACal 4. I've already written a database layer for ACal which is in my opinion easier to use than the one in the Zend Framework. But after trying to figure out how to build the template system I decided to try the Zend_View component. Zend says they use that component on their web site already so it must be good enough to use.
So I checked it out, and after having incorporated into the ACal source code, I can tell you it's staying. The concept is very similar to what I did in MachCMS. It's very simple and yet works really well.

There are many things that are possible in ACal using the framework, some which I never even thought of before.

• Zend_Feed - RSS feed of latest events.
• Zend_Mail & Zend_Mime - Event notifications and related
• Create PDF of events.
• Zend_Search_Lucene - Search calendar. I doubt it'll be used though because the technique may not work in our situation.
• Zend_Service - Allow images in events through Flickr.

Overall the framework is interesting and will become even more useful as development continues. And it may even make my life easier.