Danceric

After seven years of PHP development, I was wondering what my skill level was. I was doubtful of the Zend PHP5 Certification test, but as it’s the only PHP certification that I was aware of, I’ve taken the test in downtown Ottawa. I’m not allowed to talk about any specifics of the exam, as I have accepted a big disclaimer right between the moment I’ve paid and the first question So here’s my ‘generic’ comments:

The test is great to prove that you know PHP fairly well, and that you’re able to read and understand PHP code. One don’t need to work for seven years with PHP to succeed at this exam —nonetheless, one can’t pass this exam with a “I have installed a lot of blog engines in PHP” kind of experience. Obviously, there’s questions about the syntax of the language itself, but there is also questions about PHP Configuration, Security, Regular Expression, Design Patterns, Object Oriented Programming and XML. I was really glad to see questions about all of these subjects, as I have meet countless PHP developer who have never heard of an abstract class or interface, let alone design pattern.

If you don’t care about the certificate, (ie: you don’t need to prove to yourself or to any HR people that you know your stuff) then I still suggest that you try the online practice test. What’s really great about this test is that it breakdown your result by subjects. By doing it I’ve learned that I didn’t really knew as much as I thought about the differences between PHP 4 and 5, and that I haven’t done enough stream programming. The Zend PHP 5 Certification Online Practice Testing is available for a very low price, and it will help you grow as a PHP developer as it will point out some possible area of improvements.

btw, I have succeeded, here’s my shiny new logo and Zend Yellow Pages record: