It seems like all of the buzz in the PHP community lately is about the proliferation of several PHP frameworks including the Zend Framework, Symfony, and eZ Components. In response to this surge, several developers are offering their opinions on the matter, including Wolfgang Drews, maintainer of DynamicWebPages.de.

There are now so many Frameworks out there for php (just have a short look at dmoz, there are 46 listed, missing some wellknown ones like ezComponents, ZendFramework, Solar, Symfony, Code Igniter, ..., and what about PEAR??) - but which one are you going to use? Well, i guess it is a challenging question, especially if it is now up to you to decide this for a new starting project. Probably all frameworks have some strengths and weaknesses, but how long does it take you to evaluate them? You need some faster criteria to decide, and maybe these one will help you.

The "must have" questions he shares include:

• Is the framework well documented?
• Is the framework backed by a well known company?
• Does the framework fit into your IT-landscape?

Each is as important as the next and together they, and their answers, make for a well-rounded look at each framework.