Posted by C. on 09/12/07 12:50

On 12 Sep, 13:23, salmobytes <Sandy.Pittendr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 11, 11:05 am, macca <ptmcna...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>
> As others have said, get any kind of a web-related job
> and get going. But that only goes so far. To rise up
> from an entry level job you need skills. Else you'll
> get stuck, like mosquito to fly paper.
>
> So get yourself a personal website, hosted on a cheap, shared-host
> linux box and start building it with php. Learn how to
> interact with a mysql database, even if it doesn't really
> accomplish anything at first. At least you'll get those skills.
>

Certainly the best way to learn is to do.

Having said that, getting support from more experienced developers is
a huge boost too.

Rather than going off and doing your own thing before you land that
dream job, I would recommend looking for open-source php projects who
need (volunteer) help - try Sourceforge.net

Perhaps its just because PHP is relatively young in the professional
programming market - but so far the employment market hasn't become
certificate driven (as it is for most other IT skills). So being able
to point to a significant open-source project and say I did that (even
if you only changed one line of code!) will look great on your CV.

> Learn how to program Java and Java Servlets. Get ofbiz running on your
> local
> linux box. Get a linux box if you don't have one. A lot of complex
> high-end business logic gets evaluated by server side Java.
> Php and php-xmlrpc can be a handy rapid-app front end to those
> services.

I'd definitely recommend that anyone choosing programming as a career
learn more than one programming language (a friend recently suggested
that they should learn a new one every year) but you need to at least
be proficient in one.

I'd stay well clear of Java though unless you're looking for a job as
a Java programmer. (before the flames start - I currently get
reasonably well paid to support some large Oracle/Java applications,
and previously ran a PHP shop). Do learn SQL and Javascript.

C.

[Back to original message]