Zend Framework is based on simplicity, object-oriented best practices and a lightweight architecture that enables faster development of secure, reliable and highly interactive Web applications. Its components include:
- MVC application framework - Zend Framework’s model-view-controller architecture enables the separation of business logic from user interface design, providing an industry best practice for Web application development. The framework also makes AJAX programming easier with JSON support.
- Database support - access multiple brands of RDBMS via a database-independent object-oriented interface. Databases supported include IBM DB2, MySQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL and SQLite.
- Internationalization - Zend Framework supports advanced yet simple solutions to develop your PHP 5 Web applications for a global audience.
- Web services - use convenient classes to publish and consume Web services and feeds in PHP.
- Feeds: ATOM, RSS, Google Data APIs
- Clients and Servers: REST, HTTP, XML-RPC
- Services: Integrate a multitude of industry Web services, including APIs from major providers like Amazon, Yahoo!, and StrikeIron
- Foundation Framework services - Zend Framework provides many other classes to make common application development tasks quick and easy. For example, solutions for email, sessions, authentication, logging, caching, filtering input, and others are included.
The Zend Framework 1.0 was released in July 2007. You can Download it here.