GEM is an open-source project currently in its formative stage. The main purpose behind the project is to provide an easy to use, extendable system to aid in the rapid development of custom web applications. Visit gem.zeletron.com for a demo, and be sure to browse the source code at http://code.google.com/p/phpgem/

The Architecture

The system is currently a tired model and service architecture, which I designed to provide my Zend Framework applications with a decent model layer. From a high-level architectural standpoint, the GEM system is divided into service, domain, and mapper layers.

The Future of GEM

Because the Zend Framework will be integrating the Doctrine ORM in the hopefully-not-so-distant future, GEM may eventually become a service layer sitting atop a robust, Doctrine-powered domain layer, providing developers with a framework with which to integrate their application’s presentation layer (Controllers and Views) with their models.

Another approach I may take is to evolve GEM into a fully-functional web application, integrated with the Zend Framework, and providing pre-built CMS, social, and perhaps e-Commerce modules. A competitor to Wordpress, Drupal, and Joomla perhaps?

Feel free to leave your thoughts and suggestions.