PHP Development for Beginners: A 2023 Roadmap

It is true that PHP is one of the most popular programming languages among developers. It’s a widely-used open-source language that can be used for web development, and it’s supported by most web servers and operating systems.

It’s also a great choice for beginners, as it’s relatively easy to learn, and there are many online resources available to help you get started.

In addition to being in high demand, PHP is also a well-paying career. According to data from Indeed and Glassdoor, the average salary for a PHP Developer is between $94,241 and $109,253.

With the right training and experience, you could be well on your way to a successful career in PHP development.

What is PHP Development?

PHP is easy to learn, especially if you have some background in programming. It’s a great choice for beginners who want to start building their own websites and dynamic web applications.

With its wide range of uses, a career as a PHP developer can open doors to many industries such as e-commerce, content management systems, and more.

With the right knowledge and experience, the possibilities are endless. So, if you’re ready to take the leap, let’s dive into the steps you need to take to become a PHP developer in 2023.

PH Skills Needed

Learn HTML, Learn CSS, Learn JavaScript.

Once you have a solid understanding of the basics, you can start looking for internships or entry-level positions that will give you hands-on experience with real-world projects.

Networking with other developers and building a strong portfolio will also help you land your first job as a PHP Developer.

Keep in mind, the journey to becoming a PHP Developer doesn’t end with landing your first job.

The tech industry is constantly evolving, so it’s important to stay current by continuing to learn new technologies and best practices.

Joining online communities, attending meetups, and participating in hackathons are all great ways to stay up-to-date and connected with other developers.

Step-by-Step Guide to Become PHP Developer

1. PHP Developer Education

However, it’s important to note that a specific major is not always required to become an php developer. In fact, many successful php developers have degrees in other fields or no degree at all.

What’s more important is gaining a strong understanding of programming languages, particularly PHP, as well as web development and software development concepts.

Self-teaching through online resources and hands-on experience can also be beneficial in becoming an php developer.

PHP Developer Degree:

Bachelors 70%

Masters 17.9%

Associate 6,7%

PHP Developer Major:

Computer Science 44.6%

Information Technology 10.80%

Computer Engineering 9.10%

Electrical Engineering6.20%

Other Degrees 29.30%

2.  Training and Internship

If you’re interested in becoming an PHP developer, one of the first things to consider is how much education and training you’ll need.

While a college degree in a related field like computer science or information technology is a common path, it’s also possible to become an PHP developer with only a high school diploma or GED.

Once you’ve got the education and skills required, it’s time to gain experience. Many PHP developers spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training, to learn the specific skills and techniques required by their employer.

But it’s not just about the time spent, it’s about the quality of the training and the hands-on experience you get.

In summary, becoming an PHP developer requires a combination of education, training, and real-world experience.

With the right combination of these, you’ll be well on your way to a successful career as a PHP developer.

3. Research PHP Developer Duties

When you decide to become an php developer, It’s important to know what duties and responsibilities are required for this position. Some common responsibilities are a part of most php developer jobs. Here is a list of the main duties that define the role:

  • Develop an internal web base PHP ERP system using LARAVEL mvc framework to manage all the internal business aspects.
  • Manage all aspects of maintaining/improving multiple websites running on Magento.
  • Develop UI pages using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.
  • Work with PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, JSON, and XUL on mortgage foreclosure system.
  • Utilize PHP and CSS3 to maintain, reformat and update forms.
  • Develop the front-end featuring rich web interface implement using HTML5, CSS3.

#Resources To Learn PHP

originally published on: GitHub

How Internet & Websites works

Resource Name Duration Resource
How does the INTERNET work? 9m https://youtu.be/x3c1ih2NJEg
How The Web Works – The Big Picture 12m https://youtu.be/hJHvdBlSxug
How does the internet work? (Full Course) 1h 42m https://youtu.be/zN8YNNHcaZc

Browser/Server request flow, HTTP Protocol, Status codes

Resource Name Duration Resource
HTTP Crash Course & Exploration 38m https://youtu.be/iYM2zFP3Zn0
MDN HTTP Tutorial https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP
Wikipedia Status Codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HTTP_status_codes

Basics of HTML/CSS

Resource Name Duration Resource
HTML Tutorial for Beginners 1h https://youtu.be/qz0aGYrrlhU
HTML Crash Course For Absolute Beginners 1h https://youtu.be/UB1O30fR-EE
HTML Full Course – Build a Website Tutorial 2h https://youtu.be/pQN-pnXPaVg
CSS Crash Course For Absolute Beginners 1h 25m https://youtu.be/yfoY53QXEnI
CSS Tutorial – Zero to Hero (Complete Course) 6h 18m https://youtu.be/1Rs2ND1ryYc

Basics of JavaScript

Resource Name Duration Resource
Javascript Crash Course for beginners 1h 40m https://youtu.be/hdI2bqOjy3c
Learn JavaScript – Full Course for Beginners 3h 26m https://youtu.be/PkZNo7MFNFg

Introduction to Databases

Resource Name Duration Resource
MySQL Tutorial for Beginners [Full Course] 3h 10m https://youtu.be/7S_tz1z_5bA
SQL Tutorial – Full Database Course for Beginners 4h 20m https://youtu.be/HXV3zeQKqGY
PHP MySql Tutorial article https://www.mysqltutorial.org/php-mysql/
PHP MySql Tutorial article https://www.w3schools.com/php/php_mysql_intro.asp

Version Control System (Git & Github)

Resource Name Duration Resource
Git & Github Tutorial for Absolute Beginners 46m https://youtu.be/iCKAWxfVWUY
Git & GitHub Crash Course For Beginners 32m https://youtu.be/SWYqp7iY_Tc

Getting Familiar with PHP: Syntax, functions, dates, JSON, File System, CURL, etc…

Resource Name Duration Resource
PHP Tutorial for Absolute Beginners – PHP Course 2021 5h 5m https://youtu.be/yXzWfZ4N4xU
Learn PHP The Right Way – Full PHP Tutorial For Beginners & Advanced 9h 14m https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr3d3QYzkw2xabQRUpcZ_IBk9W50M9pe-

Understanding Composer

Resource Name Duration Resource
Introduction to Composer – How to use Composer For Beginners 10m 39s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6wm15OWyqg

PHP beginner projects

Resource Name Duration Resource
Simple CRUD application with PHP and JSON 1h 35m https://youtu.be/DWHZSkn5paQ
Todo app with PHP 30m https://youtu.be/NxeNqHdJFxs
PHP Watch files and directories recursively 8m https://youtu.be/5f4PjQJI-Fc
Bulk image resize with PHP 8m https://youtu.be/Z99lYtn3quk
PHP registration form & validation 30m https://youtu.be/V5sJ76T3mWg

Object Oriented PHP

Channel Resource Name Resource
Programming with Mosh Object-oriented Programming in 7 minutes https://youtu.be/pTB0EiLXUC8
TheCodeholic Object Oriented PHP For beginners https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmDHHhxfe1w&list=PLLQuc_7jk__VDhXWi544iK-SgljlGGlrX
Dani Krossing Object Oriented PHP Tutorials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anz0ArcQ5kI&list=PL0eyrZgxdwhypQiZnYXM7z7-OTkcMgGPh
The Net Ninja Object Oriented PHP Tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuWxwLk8StM&list=PL4cUxeGkcC9hNpT-yVAYxNWOmxjxL51Hy

Build Projects

Resource Name Duration Resource
Build PHP Form Widget using OOP Abstraction 19m https://youtu.be/sBP6HKRW0sM
Build Shopping Cart with OOP 37m https://youtu.be/1Ip7_hdSqzY
Create MySql Notes App 33m https://youtu.be/DOsuFRnBqLU
How To Create A Login System In PHP For Beginners 1h 57m https://youtu.be/gCo6JqGMi30

Build custom MVC Framework

Resource Name Duration Resource
Build PHP MVC Framework 6h https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKy-N0q3WRo&list=PLLQuc_7jk__Uk_QnJMPndbdKECcTEwTA1
Create your own PHP Framework N/A https://symfony.com/doc/current/create_framework/index.html

What is API

Resource Name Duration Resource
What is an API? 0h 3m https://youtu.be/s7wmiS2mSXY
APIs for Beginners – How to use an API (Full Course / Tutorial) 2h 19m https://youtu.be/GZvSYJDk-us
Build PHP REST API From Scratch 1h 16m https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEWXbpUMODk&list=PLillGF-RfqbZ3_Xr8do7Q2R752xYrDRAo

Learn Existing Framework

Resource Name Duration Resource
Laravel PHP Framework Tutorial – Full Course for Beginners 4h 25m https://youtu.be/ImtZ5yENzgE
Laravel PHP Framework Tutorial – Full Course (2020) 6h 29m https://youtu.be/BXiHvgrJfkg
Laravel 9 From Scratch – Traversy Media (2022) 4h 18m https://youtu.be/MYyJ4PuL4pY
Yii2 PHP Framework – Full Course (Build a YouTube Clone) 7h 04m https://youtu.be/whuIf33v2Ug
Symfony PHP Framework Tutorial – Full Course 3h 28m https://youtu.be/Bo0guUbL5uo
Yii2 Framework course playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD5Y-lQNrPs&list=PLLQuc_7jk__V3jQ0Xr4Rho2lSDztspOt9

Learn Javascript

Resource Name Duration Resource
Object Oriented JavaScript 1h 02m https://youtu.be/PFmuCDHHpwk
JavaScript DOM Course 2h 0m https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ik6X4DJKCc&list=PLillGF-RfqbYE6Ik_EuXA2iZFcE082B3s
Asynchronouse JavaScript 0h 42m https://youtu.be/_8gHHBlbziw

Basics of JavaScript Frameworks

Resource Name Duration Resource
Angular Crash Course 2h 02m https://youtu.be/3dHNOWTI7H8
React Crash Course 1h 48m https://youtu.be/w7ejDZ8SWv8
Vue Crash Course 1h 50m https://youtu.be/qZXt1Aom3Cs
Vue3 Crash Course 2h 57m https://youtu.be/ZqgiuPt5QZo
Svelte Crash Course 1h 21m https://youtu.be/3TVy6GdtNuQ

Build Projects with existing frameworks

Yii2 Framework

Resource Name Duration Resource
Yii2 E-commerce website – Full Working Process 16h 30m https://youtu.be/eQdDBhQpU9o
Build a REST API using Yii2 PHP Framework 1h 25m https://youtu.be/XyHHMvRt6Cw
Vue.js & Yii2 REST API notes app 2h 30m https://youtu.be/7vrctmDQYW4

Laravel

Resource Name Duration Resource
Laravel E-Commerce 16h 30m https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5PWIuDTgxg&list=PLEhEHUEU3x5oPTli631ZX9cxl6cU_sDaR
Laravel Movie App 1h 25m https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OKbmMqsREc&list=PLEhEHUEU3x5pYTjZze3fhYMB4Nl_WOHI4
a lot of great videos from Laraveller collection https://www.youtube.com/c/Laraveller/videos

Get Familiar with Terminal

Resource Name Duration Resource
Beginner’s Guide To The Linux Terminal 42m https://youtu.be/s3ii48qYBxA

Editors/IDEs

Resource Name Duration Resource
Visual Studio Code Tutorial for Beginners 33m https://youtu.be/VqCgcpAypFQ
Visual Studio Code Crash Course 1h 32m https://youtu.be/WPqXP_kLzpo
VS Code SuperHero course https://vscodehero.com/
Top 12 VScode Extensions for PHP 17m https://youtu.be/v9dWFbiir9Q
Introduction to PHPStorm 6m https://youtu.be/pP9jw3fgrCU
PHPStorm vs VSCode for PHP Development 2h 15m https://youtu.be/O9nIE-40uKk
Be Awesome in PHPStorm (Laracasts) 1h 30m https://laracasts.com/series/how-to-be-awesome-in-phpstorm

Docker

Resource Name Duration Resource
Docker Tutorial for Beginners 2h 46m https://youtu.be/3c-iBn73dDE
Docker Tutorial for Beginners – A Full DevOps Course on How to Run Applications in Containers 2h 10m https://youtu.be/fqMOX6JJhGo
How to Create PHP Development Environments with Docker Compose 31m https://youtu.be/l0jb-N5H52A

Design Patterns

Resource Name Duration Resource
Design Patterns in Plain English 1h 20m https://youtu.be/NU_1StN5Tkk
5 Design Patterns Every Engineer Should Know 12m https://youtu.be/FLmBqI3IKMAo
Design Patterns in PHP N/A https://designpatternsphp.readthedocs.io/en/latest/README.html
SOLID principles N/A https://www.cleancode.studio/series/solid-principles
The No-Framework Tutorial N/A https://github.com/PatrickLouys/no-framework-tutorial

Best Practices

Resource Name Duration Resource
PHP the Right Way N/A https://phptherightway.com/
Building Secure PHP Software N/A https://paragonie.com/blog/2017/12/2018-guide-building-secure-php-software
PHP Best Practices N/A https://phpbestpractices.org/

TDD

Resource Name Duration Resource
Test-Driven Laravel 1h 20m https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdApmmK71WM&t=2006s

Get You Hired

To get hired as a PHP Developer, it’s essential to showcase your skills and experince to potential employers. One of the best ways to do this is by creating a portfolio of your work.

This can include projects you’ve built, websites you’ve worked on, and any other relevant experience you have.

Additionally, make sure your resume is tailored to the PHP Developer role and highlights your relevant skills and experience.

Finally, establish a personal brand for yourself by actively participating in the PHP community and building a professional online presence through social media and a personal website.

This will help you stand out and make a lasting impression on potential employers.

1. Prepare Resume

When creating your resume, be sure to highlight your skills and experience in PHP development. Include specific examples of projects you’ve worked on and any relevant certifications or training you’ve received.

Tailor your resume to each job you apply for by including relevant keywords and highlighting how your skills align with the requirements of the position.

Remember to proofread and have a friend or professional review your resume before sending it off to potential employers.

Your resume is often the first impression a hiring manager will have of you, so make sure it’s polished and presents you in the best light possible.

2. Create Portfolio

Along with your resume, you’ll also want to create a web developer portfolio. This will give potential employers a chance to see your skills in action and really get a sense of what you’re capable of.

It’s also a great way to show off any projects you’ve worked on, and it can be shared with other members of the hiring team, like the development team who may want to review your source code.

A good portfolio can be a powerful tool in getting you hired, so be sure to invest time and effort into creating one.

If you’re not sure where to start, check out tutorials on how to create a portfolio using HTML and CSS.

3. Personal Branding

Creating a personal brand is all about showcasing your skills, passion and enthusiasm for the work you do. It can be as simple as creating profiles on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, and sharing your coding journey, tips, and insights.

You can also use your LinkedIn profile to connect with other PHP Developers and professionals in the industry, and use GitHub to showcase your ability to read, write and collaborate on code. 

And don’t forget to ask your peers and other developers you have worked with to endorse your skills on LinkedIn.

Building a personal brand can open the door to many opportunities and help you stand out as a PHP Developer.