On the Zend Developer Zone today Richard Bates has posted his method for combining the Zend Framework with the Adobe Flash platform (Flex) to create richer and more powerful applications.

One of the most useful concepts in software development is the practice of creating modular, reusable code. As a developer, you’re likely familiar with the heartache of reinventing the wheel. Doing so is certainly sometimes necessary, but when it isn’t, you would be well served by using plug-and-play components. [...] And, as of version 1.7, Zend Framework includes an extension for native Adobe Action Message Format (AMF) communication between Adobe Flash Platform applications and PHP.

Using this AMF support, Richard shows how to create a sample Flex application that stores data into a backend database, validates that the user is "real" (via a CAPTCHA) and lets the organizer of the event know that new information has been added to the application. You can see the basic workflow here. There's plenty of screenshots, code and explanations to walk you through every step of the way.