How to Be a PHP Developer

Do you know how to be a PHP developer?

The first step for you would be to learn PHP.

There are a lot of books on that.

You can read the books, and then you should take a few online classes on it.

You mean modify a few CSS classes.

I mean take a few classes on good programming logic, project management, code testing and the primary PHP frameworks.

You want me to go to school.

I’m sure there is something on Coursera or Khan Academy on that. They have everything from Common Core math to advanced economics, so something easier than either of those like PHP is going to be there.

Let’s say I learn the basics. What makes me a developer?

I’d say it is when you move beyond the functional code and writing pounds of spaghetti code and when you graduate to object oriented code focused on encapsulated logic and classes.

And not just create WordPress templates and plug-ins.

That is the beginner’s level, not what you want to put on your resume unless you are a graphic designer trying to show you know more than CSS.

You can make money doing WordPress.

Yes, with a series of one day projects. To learn more, you have to set up a PHP environment and start making major projects.

So I need to get practice developing projects before I can say I’m a developer.

And get familiar with a good IDE. Whether it is PHPStorm or Netbeans, it doesn’t matter, since both will dramatically improve your productivity.

If I work for someone else, they may not use that IDE.

So save the IDE configuration files to a cloud service so you can use it anywhere. You’ll look pretty professional if you can do that instead of carry around a USB device.

Any other tips?

Learn the PSR standards. They are called standards because they are industry standards.

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