PHP Certification

jwilson122

Hey guys, I have been studying PHP, MySQL for around a year / 2 now, and I am fairly good I suppose, not the best... but I can build somewhat you would call "advanced" applications 😉 Anyways, on to my question! Can anyone suggest a "PHP Certification" that I can take online to get my PHP certificate? I would like it to prove that I CAN code, and can put it on my website / resume.. It would be great if you could suggest me some good places I could do just that!

Thanks a lot in advance, Justin! 😉

laserlight

You could become a Zend Certified Engineer if you want.

jwilson122

laserlight;10966863 wrote:
You could become a Zend Certified Engineer if you want.

Yeah I've saw that, is it really hard? And, how can I study for it?

laserlight

jwilson122 wrote:
Yeah I've saw that, is it really hard?

No comment as I have never taken a ZCE exam.

jwilson122 wrote:
And, how can I study for it?

The page I linked to has links to possible study material towards the bottom of the page.

By the way...

jwilson122 wrote:
I would like it to prove that I CAN code, and can put it on my website / resume..

No doubt it will be an asset to your resume, but certification does not necessarily prove that you can code.

jwilson122

laserlight;10966869 wrote:
No comment as I have never taken a ZCE exam.

The page I linked to has links to possible study material towards the bottom of the page.

By the way...

No doubt it will be an asset to your resume, but certification does not necessarily prove that you can code.

hmm, have you ever taken a exam for PHP? And, do you know any other cheaper solutions besides the Zend one? Its 1k USD for the exam + training... or $195 for the exam itself :/

bradgrafelman

jwilson122 wrote:
And, do you know any other cheaper solutions besides the Zend one?

Yeah - get some experience. Work on collaborative projects or solo, but just get some experience.

Personally, having seen the programming side first-hand, if I were to ever be in the position where I was hiring people, then I would much rather see some practical experience on a person's resume. Too often, a certification isn't worth much more than the paper it was printed on.

jwilson122

bradgrafelman;10966874 wrote:
Yeah - get some experience. Work on collaborative projects or solo, but just get some experience.

Personally, having seen the programming side first-hand, if I were to ever be in the position where I was hiring people, then I would much rather see some practical experience on a person's resume. Too often, a certification isn't worth much more than the paper it was printed on.

Hmm Okay.. when you say "practical experience".. what would that mean exactly? What would you like to see on it exactly? Not really understanding the practical experience thing Lol.

laserlight

jwilson122 wrote:
Hmm Okay.. when you say "practical experience".. what would that mean exactly? What would you like to see on it exactly? Not really understanding the practical experience thing Lol.

Use PHP and related technologies to create and fix software. For example, you could contribute bugfixes to some open source project written in PHP, or you could work on a personal website with CMS features.

jwilson122

laserlight;10966877 wrote:
Use PHP and related technologies to create and fix software. For example, you could contribute bugfixes to some open source project written in PHP, or you could work on a personal website with CMS features.

hmm, so no degrees or certificates? lol

laserlight

jwilson122 wrote:
so no degrees or certificates?

I have a bachelor's degree in computer science, but that does not prove that I can code (as in actually design and implement correct and maintainable programs/scripts, not just hack together something culled from code snippets all over the Web). What does prove that I can code (or demonstrate otherwise, if you want to be cynical :p) are the projects that I did during my course of study (and elsewhere).

jwilson122

laserlight;10966881 wrote:
I have a bachelor's degree in computer science, but that does not prove that I can code (as in actually design and implement correct and maintainable programs/scripts, not just hack together something culled from code snippets all over the Web). What does prove that I can code (or demonstrate otherwise, if you want to be cynical :p) are the projects that I did during my course of study (and elsewhere).

hmm... Okay, well.. do you know any colleges that would except a high school drop out? 🙁 lol... whats their typical standards?

jgetner

lasterlight how can you say that? but yes there is a huge difference in knowing how to code and actually coding.... But i myself know some professors that know almost everything there is about computer programming languages but i'am almost 100% sure i can write better applications..... knowledge is a large part experience is where it counts.... i myself am an internet kiddie learning from all the crap tutorials on the web but somewhere in it all i learned from first hand experience how to program professional code to be good takes dedication...

laserlight

jgetner wrote:
lasterlight how can you say that?

cough laserlight cough. How can I say what?

jgetner

I have a bachelor's degree in computer science, but that does not prove that I can code

why would you be a CS Grad If you can't code.... i mean if you can't code how the hell you pass as i know you guys get some homework that is usally harder than most thing we write on a daily bases.... lexical analysis.... complete compiler construction, principals and fundamentals of all programming paradigms

dagon

computer science covers a very large scope, you can do a CS degree most places with out learning any particular programming language. When I did mine the only actual language course was COBOL, and i did not take it.

As to the value of a degree, while it may help get you your first job, after that its all about experience.

laserlight

jgetner wrote:
why would you be a CS Grad If you can't code.... i mean if you can't code how the hell you pass as i know you guys get some homework
that is usally harder than most thing we write on a daily bases.... lexical analysis.... complete compiler construction, principals and fundamentals of all programming paradigms

It might be a little exaggerated, but read this essay entitled A Degree in Brick Science.

Speaking of compiler construction: the compiler framework my class used was an example of how not to write a framework in C++.

jgetner

i really like brick science! sign me up!

reli4nt

Being able to perform in a school setting is also very different from a real world setting.

Kudose

First, laserlight can code.

Second, I was forced out of my high school due to internet related security stuff ... long story.

Third, I have no college degree.

Forth, I like to make lists.

Fifth, I am Zend certified in PHP5. It wasn't that hard, but I had about 5 or 6 years of exposure to PHP before I took it. I hacked together web sites, modded open source software and built my own software. 2 years might be enough experience to pass it, it all depends on how much interaction and how intimate you get with PHP on a daily/weekly basis.