What is the deal with all the “numbered” folders in web/assets? I see folders like ‘4c9e5bd2’ and ‘c01c3e89’. Some have css files, some have folders for css, js, etc, and some have other stuff. Are we supposed to know anything or do anything with these folders? If so, that’s a pretty awful naming convention. Thanks
I’m guessing that this post from a Yii version ONE post is the relevant answer: http://www.yiiframework.com/wiki/148/understanding-assets/
But I’d appreciate any other additional insight. Seems like those are there for ‘namespace’ issues, possibly for people who write components. I’m just trying to convert my own website – I’ll never be writing components. For real !
The asset folder is there because how would the various Yii components and Yii extensions get the assets to your web application, if the assets were not published there ?
They are managed automatically for you whenever you use your app asset in a view or template.
Thank you sir for your response. I understand that; what I did not understand is why they are named with hexadecimal numbers.
I’ll tell you guys one thing – there’s all this talk about how easy Laravel is and how great the docs are and all that. Well, go ahead and download one of their versions and follow exactly what it says to do. Yeah … right… Although the Yii community is not as mature as some others and there may not be as many examples, at least I can get both the Advanced and the Basic to work right “out-of-the-box”, so to speak. I just wish Larry Ullman had finished the Yii 2 Book that he was writing and that I paid for…
I’m comparing Yii 2 and Laravel and my deciding factor is “ease of learning and use”. So far, Yii 2 is winning…
It’s hashes so that the names doesn’t conflict 
Also, great to hear that Yii is easier to use than Laravel - it’s not often one gets to hear that over the noise of the Laravel hype. 
Thanks man. Yeah, it’s definitely easier to get working ‘out of the box’. Laravel claims to be easy, but I’ve downloaded 2 versions so far. One didn’t work at all when I followed its docs. The other worked better (after the various tweaks that I found on Google), but the Login and Register don’t work (Object not found!!). I don’t know which is easier to use in the big scheme of things, but if my experience with a simple Laravel config is any indication, then I’m guessing Yii is going to be easier.
FYI, I’m big on Model-View-Controller, so I expect to see a Model dir somewhere and Yii has it. Laravel decided it was too “ambiguous” (their words) so they abandoned it. Pretty snarky, in my opinion.
Yes, Laravel seems to be a lot more "snarky" than Yii, meaning that it makes decisions for you because it wants to dictate what is "kosher".
On the other hand, Yii is quite flexible, and tries to accomodate you in whatever you want to do.
Of course, I am very biased, but I guess you are too, since you’re here. 
The MVC model that Yii uses is quite close to the one used and popularized by Ruby On Rails (ROR); the good bits of it anyways.