| The core of the Zope application server contains all the bare necessities that are crucial for operations. But in the Zope framework, developers can add utilities to this core set of elements to extend their applications even further. Consider the topic of this book: Plone is a software application that is an add-on to the Zope Application Server, which results in a dynamic, content-oriented environment for the end user . Using the underlying Zope framework, a developer can do the following: -
Easily manage dynamic content -
Create and maintain sophisticated rules for content creation -
Manage users and their roles -
Integrate existing systems -
Scale, scale, and scale some more The ultimate goal of using an application server such as Zope, which is both flexible and scalable, is to increase productivity while decreasing costs (and thus increasing profit). To wit: -
Zope is free and distributed under the open source license. It does not cost the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars that other application servers and frameworks will eat from your budget. -
The Zope Application Server contains all the components you need to get up and running, such as the web server and the relational database server. If you don't want to use the Zope-brand servers, you can plug your own (Apache, MySQL, and so forth) into the framework. The next section has a list of the core components of Zope. -
The Zope framework runs on just about any platform: all flavors of Linux, Windows NT/2000/XP, Solaris, the BSD family, and Mac OS X. -
The Zope community shares its creations. If you want to integrate a blog into your Zope-based site, you can quickly find an add-on that will seamlessly plug into the Zope framework. -
Zope is built for collaboration. Whether your teams are sitting in cubicles on the same floor or in 10 different countries , Zope can authenticate users against numerous authentication systems. After being authenticated, users can work together without duplicating or overwriting the work of others, using Zope's built-in version-control mechanisms. The Components of the Zope Framework Earlier you learned that the Zope Application Server contains all the components to get you up and running. This list shows you just what comes in the package: -
Zope Core ” This is the engine behind the whole product. -
Zserver ” This underlying web server also serves content via FTP, WebDAV, and XML-RPC. Or, you can use your own, such as Apache or Microsoft IIS. -
Object Database ” This stores all the objects you'll use when working with Zope. -
ZClasses ” These enable you to create new types of objects for use with Zope. -
Products ” These are used to add new types of objects to Zope. -
Relational Database ” This is used for the storage of content. You can also use your own, such as MySQL or Oracle. -
File System ” The file system of your server is accessible to Zope. |
