Comments on: Looking back at working with PHP

By: CJ

CJ — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 02:13:05 +0000

For anyone wanting to get practical experience with PHP and Oracle, try the free version of the Oracle Database from http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/xe/index.html
It installs/deinstalls extremely easily. PHP can also be installed quickly on top, either using the free Zend Core for Oracle stack (http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/php/zendcore/index.html) or from the standard PHP distributions.

– cj

By: wtd

wtd — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 01:57:02 +0000

You don’t learn to use many different tools so you can choose one and declare it the best. You learn to use many different tools so you don’t have to choose.

By: Craige

Craige — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 19:00:51 +0000

Oh, yes. I am not just sticking with PHP. I am learning C++, and Java now, and I plan to learn Ruby and Perl within a couple years. I’m just saying I don’t think I’d ever leave PHP. Maybe I’m wrong though, maybe I will sometime stop using it as my main language. Nobody can say for sure.

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 02:58:43 +0000

Craige – you should still try out different languages, just to see how they are different. If you settle for your “first programming language”, then you are doing just that – “settling”, not choosing your best.

Similarly I choose Mac OS X as my favourite OS because I have also used Windows, various distros of Linux, and Solaris. If you settle for Windows because “it does everything I know of (yes, because that’s the only system you’ve used) and others use it..” – you simply give up control of making your own choice.

It is through differences that you really understand the systems involved, and that is why in my above post I urge to diversify and to try something new.

By: Craige

Craige — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 02:26:54 +0000

Personally, I like PHP. It is the first programming language I ever touched, and I do not think I will ever part with it. I understand it has its pitfalls, but there is something about it that has me hooked.

I am hoping, as are many people, that PHP 6 will bring a number of new features into the world of PHP that only a year ago seemed like pure fantasy. I am particularly hoping for further expansion of the object oriented side of the language. It has come along way since PHP4, but it still has a way to go yet.

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 00:02:29 +0000

Andrew, that is exactly what I have done – applied to jobs if I thought I could do them. Some are skeptical, others are more realistic – depends who interviews you (HR, Manager, Developer, etc). So far I have not perfectly matched for any co-op job requirement, but I demonstrated that I could easily pick up on any missing skill.

Good luck!

By: Andrew Ingram

Andrew Ingram — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 23:45:32 +0000

Studying Comp Sci at uni, I had to primarily learn Java, but we were given random projects in other languages too (learning the language wasn’t part of the assessment, we just had to if we wanted to get any marks). So we picked up C, ML, Prolog and Matlab remarkably quickly. I’m convinced that it only takes a couple of hours to get a working knowledge of a language, maybe a few weeks to get to grips with any API you might have to use regularly. Mastering all the quirks of a language can take. years though.

Now i’m having to apply for jobs that require PHP experience and i’m thinking of just trying to justify that I can learn a language quickly enough should I get to interview