ZF version 0.7 released — the i18n / l10n release

The Zend Framework is making great strides toward version 0.7.
Much to my delight, this release placed particular emphasis on the i18n and l10n components.
Zend_Date, Zend_Measure and Zend_Locale are now new additions to the core. I tried out the new components, and here are a few examples:

Zend_Locale

Displaying the languages configured in the browser

$locale = new Zend_Locale();  
$array = $locale->getBrowser();

array(4) {
["de_DE"] => float(1)
["de"] => float(0.8)
["en_US"] => float(0.5)
["en"] => float(0.3)
}

Listing all languages in German

$locale = new Zend_Locale('de_DE');   
$array = $locale->getLanguageList();

Yes/No for dialogs

$locale = new Zend_Locale('de_DE'); 
$array = $locale->getQuestion(); 

array(4) {
["yes"] => string(2) "ja"
["yesabbr"] => string(1) "j"
["no"] => string(4) "nein"
["noabbr"] => string(1) "n"
}

Zend_Date

Displaying a localized date

$date = new Zend_Date('2006-12-31', Zend_Date::DATE_MEDIUM);  
echo $date->get(Zend_Date::DATE_FULL, $locale);

Output:
Sonntag, 31. Dezember 2006

Date -> adding, subtracting

$date = new Zend_Date('2006-12-31', Zend_Date::ISO_8601);  
$date->add(1, Zend_Date::DAY);  
echo $date->get(Zend_Date::DATE_FULL, $locale);

Output:
Montag, 1. Januar 2007

$date = new Zend_Date('2006-12-31', Zend_Date::ISO_8601);  
$date->add(1, Zend_Date::DAY);  
echo $date->get(Zend_Date::DATE_FULL, $locale);

Output:
Montag, 1. Januar 2007

$date = new Zend_Date('2007-03-01', Zend_Date::ISO_8601);  
$date->subDay(1);  
echo $date->get(Zend_Date::DATE_FULL, $locale);

Output:
Mittwoch, 28. Februar 2007

Zend_Measure

Converting 1000 meters to miles

$unit = new Zend_Measure(1000, Zend_Measure::LENGTH);  
echo $unit->convertTo(Zend_Measure_Length::MILE);

Output:
0.621371192237 mi

Conclusion:

The new components are impressive. Many tasks for which we repeatedly developed our own solutions, or simply hardcoded values, can now be implemented elegantly. A select box for choosing a country or language springs to mind. Dialogs can now easily be programmed in a "language-neutral" way, too.
The Zend_Date component finally fills the gaps that PHP's date and time functions could not cover, and provides enough abstraction.
We can also look forward to the upcoming Zend_Translate component for displaying translated text, and Zend_TimeSync.