The Story Begins Like This
The day before yesterday, I had a late-night snack with Li Qingchun at a Shaxian Snacks restaurant.
I ate the slowest; it took me half an hour to finish a chicken leg. Watching Li Qingchun wolf down his food with such relish, I was truly envious.
Starting a business has not only aged my heart, but also aged my body, and even my teeth are not what they used to be.
Although "mature" is also a way to describe it, sometimes we really have to face reality.
While we were gnawing on chicken legs, we talked about hiring PHP developers.
Li Qingchun: "In small cities, you simply cannot recruit PHP staff."
Me: "Why?"
Li Qingchun: "Most companies that use PHP are internet companies, and not many internet companies can survive in small cities."
I have to admit that in Changzhou, Jiangsu, finding a skilled PHP developer is really too difficult. They have either gone to big cities or started working on their own.
So I came to a conclusion: PHP programmers all go to big cities to do big things. This is like in mathematics: A=b, b=c, so we deduce A=c.
Some Personal Views
Actually, let me share some personal views, just for reference. My words could be wrong in different situations and different environments.
1. If you are a professional web programmer, then PHP is an excellent language you need to master, but preferably not your only one. You should still become more proficient in some other language; knowing Java would be even better. That's the national situation - in our country, it's hard to get by knowing only one language. Whatever you learn (not just technology) must be combined with national conditions. Just like the question "which came first, the chicken or the egg" - do you know the answer? In our country, there is an answer, because whichever the leader says came first came first. — If you get this, you truly get it.
2. If you are a programmer starting a business, PHP is sufficient. If the business grows, you can hire someone to help you with development in other languages. You should put more energy into product architecture and business.
3. If you are a technology research enthusiast, then studying PHP alone is definitely not enough for you. You should learn C/C++ so you can better read PHP source code. A PHP expert doesn't necessarily need to be able to modify PHP source code, because that doesn't mean you are highly skilled; but being able to do so will greatly improve your PHP level.
A Few Key Points for Learning PHP
1. You must master PHP's impressive data output and presentation functions in HTML - this is the reason it has remained strong for so many years.
2. Don't spend time studying some of PHP's overly rigid functions, such as database operations and file operations. You can simply download some excellent open-source frameworks to use. This is because these basic class libraries are likely to change their calling methods and code once PHP is upgraded, and no one writes backend programs for file caching or file services in PHP.
Actually, learning Java and .NET is the same. Some class libraries and functions don't need to be studied at all; you just need to know they exist. Of course, if it's for dealing with exams, then you still have to memorize them by rote.
But only China would test you with questions like: "Here's a bunch of code, tell us the final output."
3. Don't study commercial and open-source code too early. It will do you no good, and it will make you think PHP is hard to learn.
4. The best project for studying PHP is WordPress - in my personal opinion. It is a lightweight CMS, and its architecture is not particularly complex. If you can figure out the ins and outs of it, you can basically learn most of the key knowledge points.
About Finding a Job
No software company recruits for PHP alone. Knowing PHP means you must also know HTML, JS, MySQL, and Linux. If you don't know the latter, then knowing PHP is the same as not knowing it.
About Starting a Business
Take me as an example. From software to websites, all kinds of business are now mainly PHP. Unless the user explicitly specifies otherwise, Java is used as a substitute. I don't want to touch other languages at all.
About Teachers
A PHP expert must be a skilled programmer in projects. Because PHP has no complex theories, only practice. Practice tests truth, just like karate - knocking down the opponent is the fundamental goal. So don't trust teachers from various training classes (it's not that I don't trust training classes; some are pretty good) who claim to have years of teaching experience. I want to say that PHP teachers with more than 3 years of teaching experience who only teach classes and don't write code will basically rip you off, no questions asked.