Being a proper PHP Developer

I have recently changed jobs. Position was pretty much the same just the new company is much bigger and a lot better at what they do.
Straight from day 1 I realised that I had to learn loads.

Here are some of the things that you need to know to become a proper PHP Developer ( I still don't know all of them ).

1. Command line usage including head, tail, grep, find, cut, ls, vi, vim, scp and more
2. MySql - usage of joins, subselect, explain - use mysql from commandline, Table and Row locking
3. Debugging - know how to check and read error and access logs, usage of debug_(print_)backtrace to locate errors
4. Usage of version systems ie git including from command line
5. ssh
6. Design Patterns: singelton, factories etc
7. Unit testing

Well these are probably only some of them needed but those are the ones I am actively learning and improving.

Seriously if you want a good serious amazing job as php developer you need to know the above and more. Simply doing stuff in your ide and ftp your work to and ftp server might not be enough. I thought I knew enough but I was proven wrong. Now I got 3 months to catch up.

BTW I am working now for an internet service provider that has about 70 developers in a single big office with another team in india.

Do you know of any other skills that you came across that are essential?

 

One thing I learn about being a proper developer it's you always learning technology r always changing. Learn as much as you could to me it should be a life style change..

 

For the proper PHP developer you need to have the proper fundamentals clear about the codes and concepts. Programming fundamentals should be clear right from starting to have the betetr coding to the PHP. You ned to have logic where to put which coding and how to make the new coding related to websites.

 

Lol, if you are lucky you get to work for a company that treats you better than that. I did have a job like that once and it was really annoying.

Maybe you still haven't gotten to that point, but no-SQL and memory databases is something you might run into once a while (like Memcache, MongoDb, Cassandra or Redis). You should also practice learning standard coding styles, coding algorithms and concepts. This helped me drastically when time came when I had to start programming new languages (like Python, Flash, Java, etc..).

 

You need to stick to basics of PHP web development language, if your basics are right and perfect you can achieve or invent anything. So, do stick to the basics and practice as much as possible. Thanks..

 

Depends on if you work for yourself or for somebody else.
For yourself, your notes such as
// This the loop function etc.

Is good enough since you know what you're saying. Working for somebody else with many developers than they want you to program it with all rules applied and exact noting.
Make the notes as if you might not work there one day and somebody else is interpreting your code. lol Or so that many developers can go in and create changes or updates to scripts.
It all depends how you like to work ..some people cant function right unless they're working for somebody else on their company and to others, they function better as freelancers and script designers for reselling.

Coding in your shorts with a stack of pop cans and mumbling to yourself is the best way to go.

 

@op, how will you learn all those things? did they recommend books or training or manuals for you to use to improve the skills that you dont have? the course im doing has some serious failings in terms of teaching php / sql at a level that can be spoken of in public.

 

Try, and get your Zend Framework Certification, and Certified Zend Engineer. These will make you a more valuable developer to the team.

 

I'm self taught, I can develop pretty much anything with Google at my side for referring - I've contemplated applying for a job in the field but I know they'd just laugh at me - haha

 

the more you dive into programming, the quicker it changes!

 

Version control is extremely important as well.

 

Why would you need to know both vi and vim? lol it's just VI and VI iMproved. the commands are the same

 

Hi,

I guess being a proper PHP coder u need to write precise and clean coding with every single code explained . Use of classes and functions. I love working on linux box most of time i use Nano and cat . Grep is perfect tools for rapid search and changes i use awk as well .

Regards,

Najmi

 

same best feeling in the world isn't it

 

vi is usually just an alias for vim (VI improved). At the command line, just type 'alias' and you can check if it shows up. Might want to have it pipe to 'less' if you have a ton setup:

alias | less

I rarely ever use nano anymore. If you start using vim and learn all of the keyboard commands, you can run much quicker. Nano is ok for a quick edit, but vim is just so powerful.