php code libraries

[traq]

hi all,
I've been looking at some php code libraries to help with my web programming. (Actually, I was reading up on OO PHP and I wanted to find some examples - but I found these instead.) Does anyone have experience using Flourish? Or, if anyone would recommend other libraries, I'd love to hear from you.

p.s.: I am looking for firsthand experience and recommendations. Thanks!

[sysout]

I haven't ever tried to use that.
Pleast try cakephp (it calls framework, palz)

[JShor]

What traq's looking for is a way to optimize code to reduce it and make pages run faster. CakePHP is just a development assistant, it's not framework.

[traq]

What I'm looking for, specifically, is a collection of functions (objects) that can help reduce programming overhead. I haven't worked much with it yet, but some things that really look good about flourish:

1) It seems to be very well-documented. Seems lots of open-source projects have half-finished documentation that hasn't been updated since 1994. Flourish's doc. includes bits of example code along with the descriptions of its classes and methods and is easy to follow.

2) Based on modern (version 5+) OO PHP. Also, I can include as much or as little of the library (they call it an "un-framework") as I need for the particular project.

3) Support for a wide range of databases, including MySQL and SQLITE. (I can pick and choose according to the project!) Also supports a variety of methods for writing queries and getting result sets.

4) (Perhaps most important) Seems to be easily integrated with other code (either existing or something I might add later) - I can write my own code alongside flourish methods. It seems flexible enough that I wouldn't have to completely re-learn how to write PHP in order to take advantage of its features.

sysout, I'm also looking at cakephp, but to be honest, it seems a little too focused on being "cutesey" (e.g., four pages of "cake" and "cookbook" puns before you get to any actual documentation). But I am looking at it, along with a few others, like codeigniter.

Thanks, guys!

[sysout]

What traq's looking for is a way to optimize code to reduce it and make pages run faster. CakePHP is just a development assistant, it's not framework.

so cakephp isn't a framework?

[traq]

Well, whatever you want to call it. If you take the wiki definition, then I don't know if cakePHP is technically a "framework." And I'm not looking for that anyway - I want a collection of code bits that will help me build my own tools, not a collection of existing tools. If that's what I wanted, then I'd be happy with a CMS. : )

But - like I said - whatever you want to call it isn't important.