CakePHP?

[Jamesking56]

Hi,I was wondering... What actually is CakePHP and is it useful to use when developing a huge PHP application (Which I am planning to develop soon)?

[skaterdav85]

CakePHP is an application framework for php applications. Basically, it is a bunch of code written to enforce the MVC pattern (model view controller). MVC is good for separating out the different parts of your application. Models are typically for handling database activity and other business logic, views for containing all your presentation (html, css, js), and the controllers are to 'glue' the two together. When you make a request, it will call the proper controller and use the appropriate models and pass the data to the views. Frameworks are nice because they make it easier to maintain an application and allow for different people to work on them relatively independently. For example, client side developers can develop the views and not have to know any PHP, while the backend developers can focus on the server side development.I don't know much about CakePHP, but I've used CodeIgniter quite a bit, and i like the framework because it is lightweight, simple and easy to use and get started with, and contains a few useful libraries. Choosing a framework depends on your needs and skill level. If it is your first framework, I would suggest trying CodeIgniter or Zend, as I have heard those were easier to learn and required less setup time than Cake.