What is Zend Framework?

Zend Framework is a stack of PHP packages that are used to develop web applications and services. It runs on PHP 5 and uses Apache web server and MySQL database. Abbreviated as ZF Zend Framework is an open-source web application framework and provides 100 percent object oriented code implementing a wide range of language features.

Zend Framework is primarily supported by Zend, a Rogue Wave company and has a large community of contributors who add important features and technologies to the framework. The contributors are available on forums, mailing lists and IRC (internet relay chat) channels. Zend Framework was first released a decade ago in March 2006 by Zend Technologies. Zen Framework 2.0 was released in 2010 and a new stable Zend Framework 3.0 has been released earlier in June 2016.

Zend Framework is referred as a component library as it has a vast collection of loose components that developers use in their applications. It offers a model-view-controller(MVC) framework used to create a basic structure for all the Zend Framework applications. It allows the web developers to create interactive web applications in a cost-effective manner taking advantage of the reusable and extensible code that is shared among a wide range of applications. It reduces a lot of technical issues for the developers. Zen Framework comes with features like Syndication, AJAX support, email configuration and delivery, retrieval of lost mail through mbox, IMAP4, POP3. Zend framework is safe and secure and simple to use and helps the users to implement the development process faster without any sacrifice in quality.