To all web developers who have jobs as PHP developers!!!

[ch1326]

This might be silly questions but I desperately want to know…..

 

- Do you need to use Object Oriented PHP all the time when you work???

- Do you have to know Design Pattern for your work?

- Do you think people who only how to use Function in PHP could get jobs as PHP developers?

- In order to get a web developer job, what else should I know ?

 

Please no offense!!

 

[trq]

1) While not completely necessary, in general OOP applications are better designed and easier to maintain (if done well).

2) Design patterns are recipes fro solving common problems, so yeah, it would be highly advantages.

3) Some companies will hire anyone.

4) Obviously client side stuff like HTML & CSS, JavaScript (and not just the basic form validation) is a must these days, then there stuff like knowing how to use version control systems such as Subversion and GIT. Of course not all PHP developers need to be *great* front end developers. I'm a PHP developer and rarely touch HTML or CSS. Most of my work is PHP, Bash and Python scripting with a fair enough amount of JavaScript thrown in (when I get the chance).

[thehippy]

In addition to thorpe's post I would suggest a solid understanding of database design and at least a basic understanding of database administration.

[pornophobic]

I worked for a small local marketing group as a PHP developer.

 

1) I was rarely expected to use OOP since my employer didn't even know what they were, but I did have my own classes and functions saved to save time in development. I do know that most employers that are expecting to pay decently for a developer will expect you to know how to use OOP.

If you are using OOP for something like submitting a mail form, you are probably wasting your time. For small jobs OOP is pretty inefficient since you probably only need two or three PHP files to accomplish that.... though, one would be enough to get the job done. Your employer, if not understanding in PHP and how back-ends work will value that you can explain things in layman's terms. Never forget to KISS. (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)

 

2) Design Pattern? PHP has a lot of built in functionality to troubleshoot your code, but I would say that above design pattern you would need to be able to a) learn others' code and how it works in a very short time. Especially if it's not documented which I have seen a lot of. b) http://www.google.com c) troubleshooting and problem solving skills are always a plus.

 

3) Some companies will hire anyone.

 

4)Things you should know as a web developer:

- You should know how to speak to your employer or client, depending on if you are freelance or not. Most of the time they have hired you because they can't do the work themselves. Either because they don't know PHP, which is where being able to put things as simply as possible comes in handy. It leads to less confusion. If your employer knows PHP but doesn't have the time to do the work, you can feel free to speak in technical terms, it would more than likely be expected of you.

- You should know your way around Linux if you are going to be a PHP developer. You should learn how to work Apache, MySQL and configure PHP and know how to do basic troubleshooting. Always remember that the unexpected can happen and you won't know absolutely everything, so using resources to find similar problems by pasting a line from an error log or something can almost always lead you to a solution. You don't have to be a master of Linux, Apache or MySQL, but the more knowledge you have the easier the job hunt will be.

- I know I have mentioned it twice already, but you should know how to use google to find solutions quickly.

- You should know, at the very least; A good knowledge of how to use CSS and Javascript. Many employers will now expect you to have a grasp of jQuery as well, which is pretty much javascript, rewritten. HTML is a must.

- Other things that would be beneficial are web standards. w3c has code validators for both CSS and HTML/XHTML. If you do not know HTML 5 yet, you should take time to read up on it since it is where the internet is moving. The same goes for CSS3. You should keep up on what is going on in the communities that are relevant to your field of work. Join mailing lists, subscribe to newsfeeds, etc, etc.

- Just a small note here. While posting in forums is a great way to get an answer from a human being, it's not efficient for troubleshooting. This is solely because someone might not answer and you can probably find the answer quicker using something like, yep, you guessed it! Google.

 

 

Edit:

Just an afterthought about the forum statement I made: I usually use forums as a last resort for troubleshooting because someone has usually had the same problem before I have and have found a solution. If you do wind up posting in a forum like this one, or any other one and you find a solution before you get an answer from someone, you should (it's not a must, but it will help someone, somewhere) post what you did to solve the problem so that it is available for someone else to come across should they run into the problem and, in this forum's case mark it as solved.

[ch1326]

Thanks a lot everyone for answering my question.

 

That helped me a lot to move to the next step of being a web developer