Mastering Joomla! 1.5 Extension and Framework Development: The Professional Guide to Programming Joomla! (Paperback)

~ James Kennard (Author)
Key Phrases: frontend root, global event dispatcher, new xmlrpcval, Add Child, Media Manager, Copyright Notice (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Professional Guide to Programming Joomla!

• In-depth guide to programming Joomla!
• Design and build secure and robust components, modules and plugins
• Includes a comprehensive reference to the major areas of the Joomla! framework

In Detail

Joomla! is the world's hottest open-source content management system, and the winner of the 2006 Open Source CMS Prize. Out of the box, Joomla! does a great job of managing the content needed to make your website sing. But for many people, the true power of Joomla! lies in its application framework that makes it possible for thousands of developers around the world to create powerful add-ons and extensions. Many companies or organizations have requirements that go beyond what is available in the basic Joomla! package or in a freely available extension. Thankfully, Joomla! offers a powerful application framework that makes it easy for developers to create sophisticated add-ons that extend the power of Joomla! into virtually unlimited directions.

If you use PHP programming to extend or customize Joomla!, this book is essential reading. If you feel that you've mastered the basics of creating Joomla! extensions, then this book will take you to the next level. Packed with expert advice on all aspects of development with Joomla!, you will learn about best-practice design and coding for Joomla! components, modules, plugins and other extensions.

You will also learn about customizing the page output, using JavaScript effects, making use of Web Services from within Joomla! and ensuring that your code is secure and error-free.

A unique and comprehensive reference to the main areas of interest within the Joomla! framework is also included in the book.

What you will learn from this book?

• Joomla!'s directory and URI structure along with a brief overview of its libraries
• Joomla's common classes, variables and constants crucial for creating Joomla! extensions
• Extending the database, following conventions for database schema, and common fields
• Storing common types of data in standard fields and dealing with multilingual requirements.
• Getting data from the Joomla! database
• Using the JTable class to display and edit tables of cells
• Designing components using the MVC design pattern
• Configuring the component and its various elements and parameters.
• Packaging components with the required install and uninstall files
• Getting modules and components to work together
• Writing, loading, and translating plugins
• Working with Joomla!'s registry
• Working with the User, Session, and Browser classes
• Render output and maintain consistency throughout the application
• Controlling paging of lists
• Using JavaScript effects from the mootools librarys included with Joomla!
• Creating and using Web Services in Joomla!
• Handling errors, warnings and notices
• Building secure Joomla! extensions
• Working with dates, arrays, tree structures and other Joomla! utility classes
• An in-depth reference guide to the most significant parts of the Joomla! framework

Approach

Packed with expert advice and tips, this book is an invaluable reference guide that you will turn to again and again as you work with Joomla!

Who this book is written for?

PHP developers who want to understand how Joomla! works with a view to advanced customization or extension development, and want to learn how to work with the Joomla! framework.

About the Author

James Kennard

James Kennard is a computer programmer. He has worked with various PHP and MySQL applications, since 2002. He quickly discovered Mambo/Joomla! because of its flexible extension manager. James currently maintains one open-source Joomla! component, which has been translated into over fifteen languages. Moreover, he has plans to build two more open-source components. Examples of his work can be found on his personal website webamoeba.co.uk.

Product Details

• Paperback: 488 pages
• Publisher: Packt Publishing (November 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847192823
• ISBN-13: 978-1847192820
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #140,447 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For Developers Only, July 1, 2008

By	Matthew Knighton "Web Development Geek" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If I didn't already know MVC, Joomla 1.5 and had made components before I think this book would be useless.


If you have dabbled in developer code however and Joomla 1.5 this is a great resource.

This book lacks examples of building finished components.

If it combined the style of other books like learn joomla 1.5 as well as having this great resource of information it would be worth solid gold.

Without it and without a good index It takes time to find what you are after. Once you find it however it always provides great, accurate information.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat frustrating, June 19, 2008

By	Oblio (SLC, UT) - See all my reviews

The really frustrating thing about this book is the style and lack of indexing. When I buy a technical reference, the most important thing is being able to look up any relevant term or function name and immediately find the place to read about that. This book has the terms subcategorized under other terms that only make sense if you already know Joomla programming! I seriously almost never find the term I'm looking for in the index. This really drives me crazy. When I have found the area I'm looking for, however, I've been pretty happy with the quality of explanation provided. Indexing is all important.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great reference tool, December 11, 2007

By	C. Webb - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I recently read "Mastering Joomla! 1.5 Extension and Framework Development" by James Kennard, and I must say I really enjoyed it. Every time I read a book about Joomla! framework and extension development, I get all sorts of new ideas. This time was no exception. The book provides a thorough description of the topics surrounding Joomla! 1.5 extension development, and it is a great reference book. I would not recommend reading the book cover-to-cover, but I think it is a great resource to have handy when attempting to develop extensions for Joomal! 1.5. The book was written for experience PHP developers who already have a working knowledge of Joomla! For those wanting to learn Joomla! extension devleopment, I recommend starting with Joe Leblanc's book, "Learning Joomla! 1.5 Extension Development", and having "Mastering Joomla! 1.5 Extension and Framework Development" as a reference for getting more in depth with the framework.