5 Smart Tips for a Successful PHP Career

Hypertext Preprocessor or PHP (Personal Home Page) is one of the best languages for web-based server side scripting for light weight and dynamic web applications. Getting PHP certification isn’t the only thing that can guarantee careers in PHP. For a successful career in PHP, these five tips need to be followed:

1. Thorough Understanding of the Language: It is very easy to get a PHP certification as PHP used to be a server side scripting language earlier. Making a robust PHP code is also very easy as PHP easily gets interlinked with HTML. There are still many aspects of the language itself, which can make the coding much easier. Understanding the thorough concepts and going in deeper into the language can help you create wondrous and exceptional backend applications.
2. Objected Oriented Approach: As of PHP 5, PHP has become object oriented and you as a PHP developer need to follow the object oriented approach. If you still code using the old PHP paradigms and don’t use the power of Object Oriented advanced concepts, then your employers might feel that you are outdated and have little to no idea about object oriented concepts. If you haven’t been already doing this, start it now. Object oriented approach provides real ease when it comes to debugging and testing. Therefore, the time you spend in studying the concepts would be neutralized by the time you save during debugging and testing.
3. Learn MySQL: As MySQL has an excellent compatibility with PHP, as a PHP developer you should know the database concepts of MySQL. You should be able to set up an entire MySQL database setup using PHP scripts and SQL queries. You should know the new inbuilt functions in the version of PHP that you are using. Avoid using depreciated versions. Almost all Frameworks like Laravel and Content Management Systems like WordPress that are PHP based use MySQL as their database. Therefore, you should know MySQL at the back of your hand.
4. Know Your Way around Linux Operating System: The PHP environment in Linux Operating system is the most featured one. IDLE for Linux is way quicker and less buggy as compared to the Windows one. Therefore, as a PHP developer, if you use Linux, then your chances of having a successful PHP career increases tenfold. Four technologies go hand in hand i.e. Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP.
5. Learn Apache Server: Although it is not the developer’s job to set up the server, worry about the database or even the operating system environment where the application would run, when developing a robust backend application, it is necessary that your application considers the shortcomings and performance points of each and every thing. Therefore, you should be familiar with apache server as your application would run on it.

If you are a skilled PHP developer and have the following tips covered, then no one can stop you from having a wonderful career in PHP.