Re: [PHP-EVANGELISM] Question on business want for PHP

I work for Avaya, formerly part of Lucent/ATT, and while most of our
system management applications have been done in your standard
enterprise languages (Java/C/C++), I have pioneered the use of PHP on
some of the smaller system management web interfaces.  As the sole
developer on the management system, I was able to turn something out
within 2 months - relatively short amount of time.

I have to say that getting PHP adopted internally (now used on a few
projects) has been tough, but once people started using it and seeing
that they could reduce their development times, it's been working well.

I'm actually still in college ( I joined the company early and have been
finishing my degree online at www.umuc.edu ).  As for learning, PHP is
probably not the best starter language, but it can certainly help you
prototype some of your other projects.  I never found algorithms hard in
C++ or Java, but I would spend hours on the little gotchas like finding
a character within a word and all these relatively minute details.  

In the enterprise market, I doubt you will see PHP as an expertise
criteria at any huge company (huge as in IBM, Microsoft, AT&T, Avaya,
Motorola, etc).  However, there are tons of smaller companies that are
just looking for a quick solution that you can provide to them with php.



On Sun, 2003-07-20 at 01:23, Jonathan Villa wrote:
> Stan, 
> 
> I hope others reply to this because I am also interested in learning
> about this.  I can tell you my experience.
> 
> I am also from the Chicago area (I work downtown) and work for one of
> the city's most talented consulting firms.  While they have talented
> developers, I feel that PHP and other Open Source Solutions could
> provide the same solutions which they are using...But overall, it seems
> to me that most people are using proprietary solutions only because of
> marketing and the fact that most people have certifications in such
> areas.  Go to Zend.com, there is a link to some information about
> Java/PHP integration, which I am trying to bring up with my company. 
> This is a good thing... I am also looking into it myself, along with PHP
> MVC based apps.  I am in charge for the development of a certain
> website, and it's all done using Open Source technology...
> 
> Perhaps looking into a Computer Science degree or a Computer Information
> Systems degree would be beneficial, all while maintaining your PHP. 
> While you learn things in school, and work on projects, port them over
> into PHP.  This way you can prove to your employer that the same things
> can be done using PHP that be done with the others.
> 
> As far as jobs, go to Zend.com, they have some info...I haven't seen
> much, but could be wrong.  Also, go to http://chiphpug.php.net, maybe
> you can signup. I'm thinking of it...
> 
> On Sat, 2003-07-19 at 12:26, Stan Lemon wrote:
> > Hey there, I'm hoping I'm in bounds of the purpose of this news mailing 
> > list with this post, but I guess what I am wondering if how much of a 
> > demand for PHP programmers is there in the business world?  Reason I ask 
> > is because I am going to be a freshman college student very well versed 
> > in PHP and living in the Chicago land area (actually I'm going to school 
> > right outside of the city) and I have been contemplating on what type of 
> > a job I'll be able to find when I attend.  Is it worth it for me to look 
> > for companies which might need PHP based solutions?  Also, I don't have 
> > any type of certification, is there something I should be looking 
> > toward?  And finally, I'm assuming most of you guys have portfolios of 
> > some sort, what do these look like?
> > 
> > I would love to program in PHP and design write applications for 
> > businesses, but is this probable/plausible, or am I hoping for something 
> > I won't find?
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > - Stan
> > 
>