Who Needs Frameworks?

Here is my latest editorial for the May 2013 issue of php|architect magazine:

php|architect - May 2013

Who Needs Frameworks?

Beth Tucker Long

The title alone may get me some hate mail, but anyone who has discussed frameworks with me knows that I’m not shy about saying that I really don’t have a use for them. That’s not to say that I don’t think there’s a time and a place for them, just that for the majority of the projects that I do, a full-fledged framework is way over the top. There is something to be said for having more features than you know what to do with, but there’s also something to be said for not having to slog through 30 files to find what you need – or having to autoload 12 files to do one thing.

So when micro-frameworks started popping up, I was very intrigued. I love the idea of a bloat-free solution that still saves you from having to redo common tasks. If, like me, you are interested in learning more about these lighter options, be sure to check out Andrew’s article on Flight, a RESTful micro-framework. Andrew’s article even includes an interview with Flight creator, Mike Cao. If you like the idea of micro-frameworks, but haven’t found one you like yet, you may want to try writing your own, and Ron has some tips and guidelines for making that go more smoothly.

Looking for an easier way to test your codebase in multiple environments? Jacques will show you how to set up multiple VM’s to run off of the same codebase. In our monthly Education Station column, Matthew begins a two-part series on Guzzle – make your own HTTP client in a snap. We, in conjunction with PHPDeveloper.org, are happy to introduce a new column this month to help you keep up with interesting things happening in the world of PHP, and Eli’s column delves into the different attitudes surrounding open sourcing your code.

Last, but not least, we have an article from Joel on learning. Yes, you heard me correctly. We are taking a step back from teaching PHP topics for a moment to take a look at how our brains are working when we are learning and what we can do to help keep our brains absorbing the data we throw at them. I hope you enjoy this side trip into learning about learning.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who came and made tek13 a fantastic time! I really enjoyed meeting new faces, seeing old ones, being challenged to learn new things, and being surrounded (at least for a week) by people who get my jokes. I will be at Lone Star PHP in June, so if you will be too, be sure stop by and say hello!