It’s hard to focus on anything else at this point, so let’s talk pandemic. The entire world is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic right now, and we’ve only just begun. We have no idea what the next few weeks, months, year(s) will bring as this continues to progress.

This month’s magazine focused on Magento, which by its nature, is one embodiment of Enterprise PHP. But what do we mean when we say “Enterprise PHP” anyway? Several things get drawn up into that phrase.

Last month, I wrote about certifications and now would like to touch on a tangentially related topic: Interviews. Interviewing developers can be tricky. Unlike some other fields, people can learn enough about coding to make their way through a basic screening, leaving you hiring someone who doesn’t work out in the end.

It’s been a long time since I talked about certifications. The last time I did it publicly was back in 2008 when I wrote a blog post about it. A piece that got a lot of strong responses, and almost cost me a job offer later in my career. I think over 10 years is long enough and it may be time to discuss this again.

I’m writing this article shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday celebrated in the US. Combined with the fact that 2019 is rapidly coming to a close, I find myself reflecting over the last year and even a bit farther back. I think that there has been a lot that the PHP community can be thankful for.

Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about why the title of this article, I feel, is entirely wrong (though I used to believe it). I’m writing about this because I’ve had a sordid history with frameworks and want to share where I’ve landed.

Back in 2012, Scott Hanselman wrote a blog post on Dark Matter Developers, and I think the concept still rings true today, maybe more. So what are they?

I was researching user groups on various websites such as php.ug and friendsofphp.org, as well as Meetup for work. As I did, I saw three trends forming which I’m sharing here.

PHP was released in the fall of 1994, making 2019 the 25th anniversary of PHP! We’ve certainly come a long way from the early days of the web. I’m not sure how many people reading this were around back then, but I was. Things were not pretty back then.

Recently there was a big announcement that with WordPress 5.2, that they would be updating the minimum required version of PHP to 5.6. That’s a huge deal, but as can be expected, a vocal minority of the PHP community immediately erupted in anger