CakePHP has been one of the most popular and favorite php web application development framework for PHP web developers all over the world. Recently, the core CakePHP team launched its 2.1 version which is now available for download. The newer version comes with many new features and additions which are very useful for web developers working on PHP. Whether you want to start with a fresh web project or optimize an existing application, you can use the new updated framework to do the job. However, the best part is that nothing additional is required to upgrade to the 2.1 version.

The major new features of CakePHP 2.1 version are:

Generate XML And JSON Views With Two New Content Type View Classes: Now developers can easily create XML and JSON views over CakePHP framework by using two newly added classes. Developers will be required to enable RequestHandler Component and support for XML and JSON extensions in the desired application to use the new classes in it. Further, developers can now easily create data views by using the _serialize key or by creating the normal view files.

New Method Introduced For View Classes: The introduction of new view classes required a new method in order to make the classes easily usable. The new method provided for view classes is aimed at enabling developers to extend views, elements and layouts with other files. This introduces a completely new concept of sub-layouts in the CakePHP framework.

Enhanced Debugging: Now developers won’t have any problems in reading and understanding the output generated by debug function as it has been made easily readable by presenting it in a cleaner format. By clicking on a particular point of the trace developers can view the variable state at that very point. Further, the two newly added content type view classes will allow error pages to be presented in a content type format. This is going to make the debugging of applications much easier and effective.

Quick and Effective Testing Features: Except the $test, all the fixtures can now be generated in the data source. A new TestShell has been added in the framework which reduces the required typing for executing unit tests. Further, a user interface based on the file path is also provided by this TestShell. Data source names prefixed with test_ will be given to models that are loaded from ClassRegistry and other data source.

The Deep Saving Feature: One of the most frustrating tasks for developers is to save various pieces of relational data. As compared to the earlier versions of CakePHP where only single level saving of relational data was permitted, the new CakePHP 2.1 version provides deep saving feature through which models can be saved more than a single level deep.

Set Callback Priorities: The support for setting priorities has been provided in the newer version. This provides developers with full control over the order in which callbacks are sent.

The CakePHP 2.1 version has arrived with a lot of new features and opportunities for PHP web developers and web development companies. Most of the web development companies have started working on the upgraded framework and are delivering exceptional solutions to their clients.

Chris Miller is a blogger and web developer for a leading Offshore Software Development Company. He provides concrete information about PHP web application development,.Net/Java apps development, software development & mobile applications development.