From the PHP Frameworks actually available, Zend Framework is definitely one of the best, especially if we talk about performance and architecture. Everything is almost perfect, until we reach the Zend_View, which is supposed to show the capabilities of the framework. Compared to many other frameworks such Symfony and CodeIgniter, Zend_View is very limited and can’t create complex views with slots and partials.
A quick look over the Zend Framework ML and you will see the number of discussions and requests about Zend_View features, but is anyone listening over there ? Pa’draic Brady is working on a solution not ready yet and which could help, but I think it’s something very important which should be implemented in the framework’s core. Working on Zend_View and creating your own plugins is possible, but it’s a very hard task, compared to the facilities offered in others frameworks. If you don’t feel the difference try a complex view on Zend Framework, then on CodeIgniter or Symfony, and see by yourself.