Where are the PHP programmers?

Andrewc said:
**My nephew recently went to CTI and did C# :confused:
Im just wondering if colleges are finding out what skills are lacking and get people to follow that path.
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Did your nephew do ISSID? If so you learn the basics of C# ASP.NET and PHP or atleast that's what I learn't in 2012.
Is PHP really that much in demand? Majority of the ads in the Eastern Cape are asking for ASP.NET which I refuse to learn.
 
There is a shortage of developers, good developers.

Good developers are usually polyglot programmers. The right tool for the right job.

PHP is a language that allows you to do things badly. There is a lot of sadness with the language.

However, its downfall is also its strength. Since most people find it easier to learn, you become more "productive" with it. Even though you could be making some serious mistakes.
 
Noah said:
What determines a "good" developer?
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Depends on each persons' definition. Its subjective. For me, its the ability to think before doing.

Someone that understands the bigger picture and doesn't just throw code together in a haphazard manner. The ability to learn new techniques and design patterns and evolve a code base over time.
 
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Andrewc said:
Time required to know PHP? maybe 1 year... and you can pretty much teach yourself.
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Hmm... Maybe I am just slow but i've spent the past 5 years hands on with PHP... I still don't feel like I know everything or even nearly enough to say I have everything that is useful to me. Granted within that time it's not the only thing that I have done but still...

I think that there is a huge gap and you're right in terms of the technology that I see and use every day on the web here in SA (I mean really... Bootstrap it nice but why make government websites with it...) and the crazy stuff that I see going on overseas where some guy, his mom and the youtube vlogger they are in business with know a knowledgeable amount of PHP.

I agree with whoever else it was that said the general tendency here in say and specifically in e-commerce is to rely heavily on the use of other modified e-commerce platforms... Would be nice to see a lot more uniquely awesome stuff going on...

Just saying :whistle:

As for what makes a good PHP programmer... A very logical and experienced programmer does. More often than not, does not start out programming in PHP merely learns it to aid in some other stuff... I think most people could hack out a Hello World! But really... THE MOST INTERESTING stuff that I have seen to date has come from people who have a great understanding of how software in general is made (from start to finish).
 
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The shortage of good developers is normal. As in life, the majority of the pool of participants in an activity will be average.

I am have no idea of the numbers, but it's probably less than 1 in 10 people being of above average ability in any given activity.

Just because you get paid to be a developer, doesn't make you a professional, despite the definition
 
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cbrunsdonza said:
Dating sites are massive around the world. A fellow colleague just moved overseas to go work on a dating site in Toronto as its his field of speciality. All his development has been in PHP.
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Yeah i know. I got an offer for one in Netherlands working on one.
 
Noah said:
Is PHP really that much in demand? Majority of the ads in the Eastern Cape are asking for ASP.NET which I refuse to learn.
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The Eastern Cape's developer community is so full of Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and other big name platforms that it crowds out the fun stuff. I did MS based dev work for years before I threw in the towel and moved over to Web based dev work exclusively - on a LAMP type stack.

When I decided to make this career move I had to find a company that was willing to hire remote workers, because there was nothing visible in PE. I got lucky about 4 years ago and I'm now working for a Cape Town based company while living in PE.

The Web developer communities in Cape Town are vibrant and active. One night out at an event and you soon realise how in demand good Web developers are. No such communities exist (or survive) in PE. I definitely experience FOMO, but it is adequately offset by the far more reasonable cost of living in PE than in Cpt.

Speaking of proficiency, yes PHP is an easy language to learn, but the language isn't what is difficult. Designing a system, solving problems, choosing appropriate algorithms, these and more all take experience. And PHP is almost useless on its own. You have to know the OS and Web server it will run on, how to use the DB, caching approaches, how HTTP works, how Web browsers work, how to program in Javascript and use some front-end frameworks, and more. Also, let's not forget that you should understand how to handle concurrency.
 
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