Beginning CakePHP: From Novice to Professional

CakePHP is a leading PHP–based web app development framework. When asking a question on forums or chat rooms, many CakePHP beginners get little help from the experts. Simple questions can get a response like, “Well, just read the online manual and API.” Unfortunately, the online manual is depreciated, and who wants to absorb a programming language or framework from an API? Beginning CakePHP will do the following:

• Lead you from a basic setup of CakePHP to building a couple applications that will highlight CakePHP’s functionality and capabilities without delving too deeply into the PHP language, but rather what the CakePHP framework can offer the developer.
• Teach you to use CakePHP by incorporating advanced features into your web development projects.
• Target beginners of CakePHP or web frameworks in general as well as experienced developers with limited exposure to CakePHP. A secondary audience may include developers undecided on adopting CakePHP or business managers trying to assess the value of incorporating CakePHP into their toolbox.

What you’ll learn

• Install and configure the CakePHP web framework
• Create your first CakePHP web application: to–do lists
• Progress by building a more complex blogging application
• Incorporate Ajax and Web 2.0 principles and techniques into your blogging and other CakePHP applications
• Apply these sample applications along with advanced techniques as a framework or template for building your own web applications with CakePHP going forward

Who this book is for

This book will speak to an audience of developers already familiar with PHP but who may not be PHP experts. This book is tailored for those new to CakePHP and who want a thorough tutorial.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Installing and Running CakePHP
3. Creating a To-Do List Application
4. Naming Files and Designing the Database
5. Creating Simple Views and Baking in the Console
6. Customizing Views
7. Working with Controllers and Models
8. Implementing Ajax Features
9. Helpers
10. Routes
11. Components and Utilities
12. Vendors
13. Plugins
14. DataSources and Behaviors
15. Wrapping Up the Application