Created post Mezzio101

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data/blog/2025/2025-01-30-mezzio101-using-mezzio-skeleton-installer.md

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+---
+id: 2025-01-30-mezzio101-using-mezzio-skeleton-installer
+author: bidi
+title: 'Mezzio 101:  Create an Application Using the Mezzio Skeleton Installer'
+draft: false
+public: true
+created: '2025-01-30T11:00:00-01:00'
+updated: '2025-01-30T11:00:00-01:00'
+tags:
+  - mezzio
+  - skeleton
+  - tutorial
+---
+
+Creating a site from scratch has always been a daunting task for developers.
+The difficulty doesn't come so much from the complex coding, but from the imprecise specifications.
+Even if you start with clear goals in mind, the project can grow exponentially in complexity as time goes by.
+New technical requirements, new features, bug fixes and refactoring all get in the way of the developer resting on his laurels.
+
+One might argue the above are only possible in the programming world.
+We aren't building bridges here.
+
+We need a reliable, well-maintained starting point for our projects.
+This scaffolding should be a basis that allows us to expand as needed in the future.
+
+<!--- EXTENDED -->
+
+> This will be the first article of a series meant to showcase how to build a fully-operational application using Mezzio.
+
+### Where to start?
+
+Building the project manually is a complex operation that has too many moving parts to be accessible.
+Also, each of us will build it in his own image and that invites chaos even if we have the best intentions.
+A better solution is using the Mezzio Skeleton Installer that handles a lot of aspects automatically, the most basic being listed below:
+
+- Standard directory and file structure
+- Routing
+- Middleware
+- Templating
+- CI/CD
+
+The Laminas Project is known to offer a PHP framework and component library that is kept up-to-date with the latest updates in the PHP ecosystem.
+A second, but highly important aspect is their focus on standards defined by the [PHP Framework Interop Group](https://www.php-fig.org/).
+
+#### Prerequisites
+
+You need a working installation of [PHP](https://www.php.net/manual/en/install.php) and [Composer](https://getcomposer.org/) available on your `$PATH`.
+
+### What is Mezzio?
+
+As mentioned on [the Zend official site](https://www.zend.com/resources/what-mezzio-why-would-i-use-it), 'Mezzio is the Laminas middleware runtime -- previously known as Expressive in the Zend framework.'
+Mezzio is designed around PHP-FIG, the PHP Framework Interop Group, that has defined several standards recommendations.
+The goal of the standards is to ensure that PHP code is written in a consistent, interoperable, and maintainable way.
+
+### What is middleware?
+
+Middleware is code that is executed between the request and response.
+Most commonly, it performs these tasks, but more layers can be defined based on your application:
+
+- Aggregates incoming data.
+- Processes the request.
+- Creates and returns a response.
+
+There are several advantages to using middleware:
+
+- It enables old systems to interface with newer ones.
+- It's scalable.
+- Integrations are created more easily.
+- It enables automating processes.
+
+### Installing Mezzio
+
+Let's put aside the technical stuff in favor of some real work that you can be proud of.
+Building things with our hands, kind of.
+
+To start, create a folder where you want your project files to be created.
+
+```shell
+mkdir -p ~/Projects/my-mezzio-project
+```
+
+The next command will launch the Mezzio Skeleton Installer.
+We will go through the installation process together, using the recommended settings.
+We will opt primarily for the Laminas-supported options to maintain consistency.
+Funnily enough, the installation should complete in less time than it takes for you to read this tutorial.
+
+```shell
+composer create-project mezzio/mezzio-skeleton ~/Projects/my-mezzio-project
+```
+
+You should see the text and prompt below:
+
+![step-1-installation-type](/images/blog/mezzio101/mezzio101-use-skeleton-01.jpg "step-1")
+
+Submit `3` for option `Modular`.
+
+![step-2-dependency-injection](/images/blog/mezzio101/mezzio101-use-skeleton-02.jpg "step-2")
+
+Submit `1` for option `laminas-servicemanager`.
+Just as a side note, this option is Laminas's factory-driven dependency injection container.
+Its version 4.0 supports PSR-11: Container interface version 1.1 and 2.
+
+![step-3-router](/images/blog/mezzio101/mezzio101-use-skeleton-03.jpg "step-3")
+
+Submit `1` for `fastroute`.
+
+![step-4-templating](/images/blog/mezzio101/mezzio101-use-skeleton-04.jpg "step-4")
+
+We chose `Twig` as the templating engine because of its concise syntax, extensibility and well-written documentation.
+The Mezzio Skeleton Installer does offer several alternatives for the templating engines:
+
+- `Plates` is a simple templating engine that sees the templates themselves as PHP files.
+- `Twig` is reliable, actively-developed and well-known in the PHP community.
+- `laminas-view` is related to Laminas MVC.
+
+The default option for this step doesn't install any templating engine, but we only recommend this option if you want to build a CLI or API.
+
+Submit `2` for `Twig`.
+
+![step-5-error-reporting](/images/blog/mezzio101/mezzio101-use-skeleton-05.jpg "step-5")
+
+Submit `1` for `Whoops`.
+At this point, the installer has enough information to install the 3rd party packages in the application.
+
+You can expect to see this prompt regarding dependency injection.
+
+![step-6-injection](/images/blog/mezzio101/mezzio101-use-skeleton-06.jpg "step-6")
+
+Submit `1` for `config/config.php`.
+
+![step-7-injection-confirmation](/images/blog/mezzio101/mezzio101-use-skeleton-07.jpg "step-7")
+
+Submit `y` for `Remember this option for other packages of the same type? (Y/n)`.
+
+The final step in the installation performs the following operations:
+
+- Sets up `phpcs` the [PHP Code Sniffer](https://github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer)
+- Clears the cache
+- Enables development mode
+
+![step-8-installation-complete](/images/blog/mezzio101/mezzio101-use-skeleton-08.jpg "step-8")
+
+#### The result of your work so far
+
+To run the application, you need to navigate to the installation folder using the command below.
+
+```shell
+cd ~/Projects/my-mezzio-project/
+```
+
+Then start the web server for your project.
+
+```shell
+php -S 0.0.0.0:8080 -t public
+```
+
+Now go to your favorite browser and type this URL `http://localhost:8080/`.
+
+If everything worked correctly, you should now have a working application like in the screenshot below.
+You can then visit the recommended links to learn more about using the components we chose during the installation.
+
+![step-9-installation-complete](/images/blog/mezzio101/mezzio101-use-skeleton-09.jpg "step-9")
+
+#### Coming up in the Mezzio101 series
+
+With our base application set up, the next article will detail how to create new pages and modules to organize your content.
+For this purpose we will create new files, update the application configuration and also use the command line interface.
+
+### Additional Resources
+
+- Learn more about [Laminas](https://docs.laminas.dev/).
+- Learn more about [Mezzio](https://docs.mezzio.dev/) and its [features](https://docs.mezzio.dev/mezzio/v3/getting-started/features/).
+- Learn more about [Mezzio's fundamentals from Matthew Setter's book 'Mezzio Essentials'](https://mezzioessentials.com/).