Fabien Potencier of the Symfony project (framework) recently made a presentation at the Symfony Day conference and answered the question "what is Symfony2?"

When I ask people what Symfony2 is for them, most of them say something along the lines of: Symfony2 is a full-stack web framework written in PHP. Some also add that this is an MVC framework. And some others add that this is a decoupled framework. This is all fine and correct. But my definition is a bit different. Let me tell you what it is and why I think it matters. Symfony2 is really about two different things.

His "two things" are simple - first that Symfony2 is a "reusable set of standalone, decoupled, and cohesive PHP components that solve common web development problems" and second that the framework is, based on these components, a full-stack framework. He also answers a common question about the framework - is is really MVC? He explains that the framework is less about adhering to a design pattern and more about being useful as a HTTP framework (request and response). He finishes off the post with some thoughts on the framework's place in "the enterprise", innovation, reusing standard, well-tested tools and some reasons why to choose Symfony for your next project.

Eveline Kaik has posted a reminder about the upcoming Symfony-related event, Symfony Day Cologne 2011, happening on October 21st (and a workshop day in the 20th) happening at Komed Im Mediapark.

Only one month to go: for the third time, the Symfony Day will take place in Cologne. 2011 is without a doubt an important year for our favorite framework: Symfony Live Events took place in San Francisco and Paris. A stable release of Symfony2 has been available since summer, and next month, on October 21st 2011, another Symfony Day will bring the community together at Cologne Mediapark.

For more information on the event including a map to the location, information on the speakers presenting and how to register, visit the event's website. The cost for a conference-only ticket is 129 Euro and a conference+workshop ticket comes in just under 250 Euro (only the "Security", "Build-Your-Own Framework" and "High Performance" workshops still available).