Zend Framework Intro Step by Step Tutorial

What Is Zend Framework?

Zend Framework is a component-based PHP framework that follows the MVC pattern. It was created by Zend Technologies (the company behind the PHP engine) and became one of the most widely used enterprise PHP frameworks. The project has since evolved into Laminas, but thousands of applications still run on Zend Framework 1.x.

This pack is your starting point. It covers everything you need to go from a fresh download to a working application skeleton.

Pack Overview

Four articles guide you through setup. The basic tutorial handles installation and your first page. Two folder structure articles explore the conventional directory layout from different angles. The .htaccess article ensures clean URLs work with Apache.

Read them in order. Each one builds on the previous.

Walkthrough

Step 1 - Download and Install

Download the Zend Framework library and extract it. You need the Zend/ folder from the library/ directory. Place it somewhere on your PHP include path or within your project:

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myproject/
    library/
        Zend/
    public/
        index.php
    application/

The framework is just PHP files. There is no compilation step, no binary dependencies. Drop the files in place and you are ready.

Step 2 - Create the Entry Point

All requests go through public/index.php. This file does three things:

1. Defines path constants (APPLICATION_PATH, APPLICATION_ENV)
2. Sets the include path to find the Zend library
3. Creates a Zend_Application instance and calls bootstrap()->run()

A minimal version looks like:

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defined('APPLICATION_PATH')
    || define('APPLICATION_PATH', realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/../application'));

set_include_path(implode(PATH_SEPARATOR, array(
    realpath(APPLICATION_PATH . '/../library'),
    get_include_path(),
)));

require_once 'Zend/Application.php';
$application = new Zend_Application(
    'development',
    APPLICATION_PATH . '/configs/application.ini'
);
$application->bootstrap()->run();

Step 3 - Set Up the Folder Structure

The framework expects a specific layout. Controllers go in application/controllers/, view scripts in application/views/scripts/, and models in application/models/. Configuration files live in application/configs/.

The two folder structure articles explain the naming rules:

• Controller files are named SomethingController.php
• Controller classes are named SomethingController
• View scripts are organized in subdirectories matching controller names
• The IndexController handles the default route

Getting the folder structure right the first time prevents confusing errors. The framework’s autoloader relies on these conventions to find classes.

Step 4 - Configure Apache and .htaccess

Create public/.htaccess with rewrite rules that send all non-file requests to index.php:

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RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
RewriteRule ^.*$ index.php [NC,L]

The conditions check whether the request matches an existing file, symlink, or directory. If it does, Apache serves it directly (images, CSS, JavaScript). Otherwise, everything goes to index.php.

Make sure AllowOverride All is set for your document root in the Apache virtual host config. Without it, .htaccess files are ignored silently.

Your First Page

With everything in place, visiting http://localhost/myproject/public/ should trigger IndexController::indexAction(). Create the controller and a view script:

• application/controllers/IndexController.php
• application/views/scripts/index/index.phtml

The view script is plain HTML with embedded PHP. The controller passes data to it through $this->view->variableName.

Common Pitfalls

Include path not set correctly. If you get “Class not found” errors for Zend classes, the include path does not reach the library directory. Verify with echo get_include_path().

mod_rewrite disabled. On Ubuntu/Debian, run a2enmod rewrite and restart Apache. On XAMPP it is usually enabled by default.

Wrong document root. Apache should point to the public/ directory, not the project root. If the document root is wrong, the .htaccess file will not be found.

FAQ

Do I need Composer?
Not for Zend Framework 1. The library is self-contained. Composer support was added later and is more common with Zend Framework 2 and Laminas.

Can I use Nginx instead of Apache?
Yes. Replace the .htaccess rewrite rules with a try_files directive in your Nginx server block. The concept is the same: send all requests to index.php.

Is this framework still maintained?
Zend Framework 1 reached end-of-life. Security patches are not released. For legacy projects it is fine to study and maintain. For new work, look at Laminas.

How long does it take to learn?
If you know PHP and basic OOP, you can have a working project in an afternoon by following this pack. Mastering the full component library takes longer, but you do not need all of it at once.

What if I see a white screen?
Enable display_errors in php.ini or add ini_set('display_errors', 1) at the top of index.php. The white screen usually means a fatal error that PHP is hiding.