PHP Certification.
Oct 28th
Have you ever wondering whether your PHP skill is up for the test, is it good enough for the world to look at and make use of? and How to make the world acknowledge you as a PHP developer? To be a certified PHP developer. You have to take tests, obviously, but where and why? There are various places you could take tests online to save your time and money and of course, being a certified PHP developer doesn’t make you a better ones, it just improves your chances to get a professional job in PHP.
You will need to have knowledge of PHP (obviously), MySQL, HTML (basic) and Web Administration skill alongside with some smaller skill set such as XML, CSS…. to actually be confidence in the test. And when I mean THE test, there are not just one test. Each tests are different and are offered by different organization
Zend
The industry standard, awarded from the guys who is behind PHP and alike, is always THE best award in all. Zend has been running the PHP certification for more than 4 years and have been awarding certificates for thousands of PHP developer and alike. If you are totally serious in your PHP development, Zend is the way to go.
You can look at the price tag for each of the examination bundles that Zend offers, alongside with all the exam preparation guides.
W3C
One of the most understandable sites. And one of the guys that have been running free programs and having a wide web resources for new web developers around the world. If you don’t know W3C, you are not a real developer. W3C also give out certificate and roll out free practice test for people to try. This really worth a try to know your level.
However, the real test is nothing like the practice test, it consists of in depth material with around 70 multiple choice questions that would really rule out the weak and the strong… Also, 70 questions in 70 minutes, yes, there is a time limit. And you have to nominate someone creditable to be your supervisor. The price for the exam is $75 USD.
OST
O’Reilly School of Technology also offers PHP certification through 4 courses. On completion of all 4 courses offered by OST (with a price tag of $398 each course) you will be awarded a PHP certification. All 4 courses work in conjuction to give you a thorough understanding of PHP, ranging from beginner to advanced PHP, logical design, database management to Web2.0 integration. It surely worths the price tag.
That’s all?
Yea, for now. There are others, offering similar certification, but I’ve ruled out the 3 most popular ones. The others including Expert Rating (really a job seeking site, offering PHP certification for 10 bux, 45 multiple choice questions in 45 minutes) and Brainbench which is, in my opinion, not as creditable as the others (please don’t flame me, that’s my personal preference)
To be a web developer
Oct 17th
Is to know all of these <insert evil and sinister laugh here> languages. This post serves as a starting place for all who wants to be a web developer. You might not need to understand in depth on any of these, but the least is the basic. My choices of framework serves as a suggestion only, the real choice is yours.
1. HTML
Back to when internet was born and introduced to the naked world… Back to when the internet was young and needing a serious developer….Tim Berners-Lee said “let there be HTML”… and there was HTML, and it was good. The proof of its goodness stays ever since then until today. Yeah, every serious web developer use HTML. Easy to learn, easy to misuse. With great powers come great responsibility. So code well, and follow the standards.
2. CSS
HTML always comes with CSS. It helps you refrain from misusing those font and colors tag by having a separate CSS file. This serve as a way for you to separate content and display components. Also, helps you to hate tables and loves divs and spans. Though many would say otherwise…
3. Server Side scripting
When you have master your way of representing your thoughts on pretty html/css compliant documents, it’s time to deliver dynamic content. One problem though, is to choose which server side scripting you would go for. Unlike HTML/CSS where only 1 thing is required to learn and to have it beaten to your head. There are choices.
My Choice: PHP. Other choices: Ruby, Python, Java, ASP.NET
4. SQL
One choice again. SQL have become a parent of all database language. There are many database engine, most of them are built ontop of SQL or understand SQL anyway. So why bother learning a language that you might not be using. SQL is the way to go.
5. Javascript / Client Side Scripting
User interactivity is the heart of the website, make sure people enjoys reading your website. Javacsript has matured into a great way of delivering dynamic content by using AJAX interactivity. Facebook does it, most new website nowadays does it. Why don’t you?
6. Frameworks
Web developers have been reinventing the wheel so many times that they come up with a whole sort of different type of wheels. These framework give you the wheel and tell you how to use it properly with examples and screencasts… Save you tons and tons of time trying to imagine how the wheel would look like and how it will work.
There is no one type of wheel that helps all web applications. So there are a lot. Choose wisely for a server side scripting framework and a javascript framework.
my choices: PHP Framework: Codeigniter, CSS Framework: 960.gs, Javascript framework: Jquery or Mootools
7. Knowing your web server.
Tricks and tricks. Understand how to give your website optimum experience by deliver the webpage to them as fast as it could be. When you have become a master and reach new ceiling, it’s time to differentiate yourself.