Symfony 2 for PHP is an enterprise-grade web development framework that makes it easy for developers to write secure and fully featured applications. The framework is not "monolithic" like so many other frameworks. That is, it isn't a single tightly-coupled codebase that can only be used in its entirety. This is a good thing, because the framework is massive. Instead, it consists of a number of disparate components that can be used in isolation from one another.
With such a large and complex framework, you might be wondering how to go about learning how to use the framework. That's an excellent question - and one that doesn't have a perfect answer. The enormity of the task means there isn't any one resource that you can use to instantly (or even within a few sessions) master Symfony 2. Instead, you should space out your learning and use a variety of resources to learn about the framework from different programmers perspectives.
The first (and arguably most important) resource you should consult on your journey to learn the Symfony 2 framework is the official documentation. You'll be happy to know that unlike a lot of open source web development frameworks, Symfony doesn't suffer from a lack of clear, informative documentation. Instead you may be faced with the opposite problem: knowing which piece of the documentation to start with!
You should start with the introductory tutorial guide on Symfony.com . This piece of documentation is quite long, and touches most aspects of the framework that newcomers need to know about before starting development on Symfony 2. There are also other documents available on the Symfony 2 website, but it's recommended that you only look at these if you want to find a specific piece of information, or if you find the beginners' guide to be lacking in someway after reading the whole thing. You should pick out a few articles or tutorials that are related to an existing (or soon starting) project.
Now you've digested the official documentation - where to from here? This is where the real fun begins, as the road is less paved. You're kind of on your own at this point in the sense that there isn't a clear path forwards. Instead, you should jump on your favorite search engine, and start digging. Start by looking up "Symfony tutorials" and "Symfony screencasts." Unfortunately it's still early days for a lot of these websites, so it might take you a while to dig deeply enough to find the truly good tutorials and resources.
You should also jump onto the official website at symfony.com, and check out Sensio Lab's community site for the framework. Sign-up for an account and jump into the forums. There's also a Google Group that you should check out, reading answers to common queries and also posting your own questions.
In terms of social networking, the Symfony team isn't as active as they could be. You should definitely follow the Twitter accounts of the framework, the company and the lead developers, but don't expect anything you won't be able to find on GitHub or the official websites / mailing lists.
If you've followed all the advice in this article then you should be well on your way to becoming a well-versed and knowledgeable Symfony developer. The next step? Get on GitHub and contribute to the Symfony project! This is the beauty of open source. Once you've learned enough, you can quickly and easily give back to the community.
Now you're a Symfony pro. Get out there and ship some code. Good luck!
With such a large and complex framework, you might be wondering how to go about learning how to use the framework. That's an excellent question - and one that doesn't have a perfect answer. The enormity of the task means there isn't any one resource that you can use to instantly (or even within a few sessions) master Symfony 2. Instead, you should space out your learning and use a variety of resources to learn about the framework from different programmers perspectives.
The first (and arguably most important) resource you should consult on your journey to learn the Symfony 2 framework is the official documentation. You'll be happy to know that unlike a lot of open source web development frameworks, Symfony doesn't suffer from a lack of clear, informative documentation. Instead you may be faced with the opposite problem: knowing which piece of the documentation to start with!
You should start with the introductory tutorial guide on Symfony.com . This piece of documentation is quite long, and touches most aspects of the framework that newcomers need to know about before starting development on Symfony 2. There are also other documents available on the Symfony 2 website, but it's recommended that you only look at these if you want to find a specific piece of information, or if you find the beginners' guide to be lacking in someway after reading the whole thing. You should pick out a few articles or tutorials that are related to an existing (or soon starting) project.
Now you've digested the official documentation - where to from here? This is where the real fun begins, as the road is less paved. You're kind of on your own at this point in the sense that there isn't a clear path forwards. Instead, you should jump on your favorite search engine, and start digging. Start by looking up "Symfony tutorials" and "Symfony screencasts." Unfortunately it's still early days for a lot of these websites, so it might take you a while to dig deeply enough to find the truly good tutorials and resources.
You should also jump onto the official website at symfony.com, and check out Sensio Lab's community site for the framework. Sign-up for an account and jump into the forums. There's also a Google Group that you should check out, reading answers to common queries and also posting your own questions.
In terms of social networking, the Symfony team isn't as active as they could be. You should definitely follow the Twitter accounts of the framework, the company and the lead developers, but don't expect anything you won't be able to find on GitHub or the official websites / mailing lists.
If you've followed all the advice in this article then you should be well on your way to becoming a well-versed and knowledgeable Symfony developer. The next step? Get on GitHub and contribute to the Symfony project! This is the beauty of open source. Once you've learned enough, you can quickly and easily give back to the community.
Now you're a Symfony pro. Get out there and ship some code. Good luck!
About the Author:
Symfony 2 is one of the most rapidly adopted web frameworks available. It's also one of the largest and most complex. Click here for Symfony tutorials by Symfony Central, world class training to help you become effective on the framework quickly and easily.
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