Posted by macca on 09/11/07 17:05

Hi, I live in the UK so would appreciate the opinions of UK PHP
programmers formost but not only.

I really want to get into the PHP development industry. Im 25 years
old and live in Manchester. I dont have a Degree but I do have a good
A-Level in Computing where I learned to program in Turbo Pascal.

In December I finish my Undergraduate Certificate in Web Applications
Development which I have been working on for the last two years with
the Open University.

It covered lots of good stuff like XHTML/CSS/Javascript and various
scripting languages such as ColdFusion/ASP (not dot net) using
VBScript/PHP and SQL with loads of standards stuff and much more.

I have also been using PHP as a 'serious' hobby for the last few years
and trying my best to learn all I can about the language, even though
I've only just started learning OOP stuff in the last month or so.

Ive been reading several books such as Zend Certification Study Guide/
PHP5 Objects, Patterns and Practice etc and hope to take the ZCE soon.

The thing is, the more i read, the more i find that i 'should' know
but I dont, such as loads of Design Patterns and Frameworks and such.

What i would like advice on is how much am I really expected to know
when first starting out? Should i know all about design patterns/
frameworks/PEAR extensions etc or do you pick this stuff up along the
way?

What I would like is any advice of what I should and shoulnt be doing
in order to get my first PHP dev job. Or what i should definately
know, and not bother with?

What routes do you guys come from?

Surely if I go for a 'Junior PHP Developer' position, they cant expect
me to know "everything" right? or do they?


Any advice appreciated,

Regards,

Paul.

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