Re: [PHP] the state of the PHP community

On 10-07-29 01:36 AM, Nathan Rixham wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I find myself wondering about the state of the PHP community (and
> related community with a PHP focus), so, here's a bunch of questions -
> feel free to answer none to all of them, on list or off, or add more of
> your own - this isn't for anything specific, just out of interest and
> sure I (and everybody who reads the replies) will learn something +
> doors/options/contacts may come of it. The only thing I can guarantee is
> that I'm genuinely interested in every reply and will read every one of
> them + lookup every tech and link mentioned.
>
> in no particular order:
>
> What other languages and web techs do you currently use other than PHP?
> - if you include html or css please include version, if js then
> preferred libs, and whether client or server side.
>
> What's your previous language/tech trail?

Early high school I used to program in basic on a TRS-80. Oh how I loved 
saving my programs to audio cassette. Later in high school I learned 
pascal and then later qbasic. Later still I studied computer science and 
was exposed to many different languages  C, C++, Smalltalk, Java, 
Scheme, Prolog, Perl, JavaScript, HTML, VRML, SQL that I remember. When 
I finished university I walked straight into a PHP job knowing not an 
iota of PHP. I came up to speed the first week and fell in love with it. 
That was around March 2000. The company there always used Java also, as 
part of a desktop suite to manage the web content. Towards the end of 
2002 they began an effort to create a Java based web framework to 
parallel their PHP framework and so I used Java more at that time. Then 
the dot com crash caught up with them and layoffs ensued.

> Are you considering any new languages or techs, and if so which?
>    - names / links

I'm considering more mobile based development languages/platforms.

> Is PHP your hobby/interest, primary development language, just learning or?

For the past 10 years PHP has been all of the above.

> How many years have you been using PHP regularly?

10

> How many years have you been working with web technologies?

About 14.

> Did you come from a non-web programming background?

My initial enrolment in university was before the Inernet took off. I 
remember using Mosaic in my first year, having an email address that 
only other university students communicated with. As such, my initial 
intent has no consideration for the Web. By the time I finished school 
though, the Web was all the rage.

> Is your primary role web developer or designer?

I am almost never a designer, though I can give critique >:) Primarily I 
am the systems administrator, software architect, and software 
developer. At times I am also the project manager.

> In your developer life, are you an employer, and employee, contractor,
> freelancer, part of a team of equal standing members?

These days I have a finger or two in all of the above.

> Do you tend to work on jobs for geo-local clients, clients in the same
> country, or do you work internationally 'on the web'?

I don't really care for whom I do work (with obvious moral 
qualifications). But my experience has been international having done 
work for Canadian, U.S., and British clients. Most importantly, I like 
the flexibility of working from home where I can concentrate on the task 
at hand uninterrupted for hours.

> How do you get your projects? do they come to you, word of mouth, do you
> hunt and bid for projects, code call, visit clients, target clients
> individually you think you can help, or?
> - not looking for trade secrets, just to get enough for an overall picture.

Almost all work has been word of mouth. Often, after I've done work for 
someone, they return for more. Some relationships are spotty in that 
it's a bit of work here, then a bit of work there, and so on. Others 
it's an ongoing relationship to evolve their needs. I have often taken 
over a predecessor's mess and had clients tell me how it runs X times 
faster since I've worked on it. Sometimes this is simply adding a 
bytecode cache, sometimes this is optimizing table indexes, and 
sometimes this is correcting serious problems in coding and application 
design.

> Do you have any frustrations with the PHP community, do you find you
> want to talk shop but can't, or find people to work with but can't, have
> projects in mind you want to do but can't find people to do them with etc?

For the most part I love the PHP community, but admittedly I only 
interface with a small portion of it (mostly via various mailing lists). 
I don't currently have time for personal projects. Three kids and a full 
plate of work makes my spare time a fleeting concept.

> Do you network with other PHP'ers in real life - meetups etc, do you
> tend to shy away, or do you find you circulate in other web related but
> non PHP focussed communities?

Not really. I'm primarily introverted (not a social pariah mind you), 
and tend to find some quick web searching turns up answers to anything 
for which I have questions.

> Are you a member or any other web tech communities, opensource efforts,
> or standardization bodies - again, if so which?

I follow several mailing lists PHP (obviously), MediaWiki, FCKeditor, 
Mplayer, Joe. I follow others on a more ad-hoc basis such as MySQL, 
Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, JQuery, Apache, FengOffice, etc. From time to 
time when I need something if the package I'm using doesn't have what I 
need I will crack it open and do what needs to be done. This can be any 
language since they all pretty much have similar idioms and it doesn't 
usually take long to start stabbing it into submission. Often I'll 
submit a patch if I think the patch is of any use to anyone else and is 
reasonably competent looking :)

> Are there any efforts, projects or initiatives which are floating your
> boat right now and that your watching eagerly (or getting involved with)?

I'm watching the social media and mobile platform snowballs gain 
traction with great interest.

Cheers,
Rob.
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