5 Key Skills To Look For In Php Programmers

By Author: Jonathan Paul
Total Articles: 66
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PHP is server-side scripting or programming language used and loved by web developers for years. According to the Stats reports, today nearly 81.3 percent of the active websites are running on PHP including some of the top ones like Facebook, Tumblr, MailChimp, Wikipedia, and more. The features of PHP like its open-source nature, support for different frameworks like CakePHP, Zend, Yii, Symfony, Laravel, etc., availability of different web development tools, large community support, and more have led to the increased popularity of the language. This huge demand for this programming language website development among businesses has also increased the demand for PHP programmers. And there are millions of programmers around the globe today. And this is what makes it really difficult to find a reliable and skilled one for a specific project requirement. 
 
To get a fully functional, customised, and dynamic website built with this scripting language HP, you need to choose the right programmer first, ...
... and here are the skills you need to look for before choosing the developer. 
 
Skills to look for in a PHP programmer before choosing. 
 
Knowledge of programming languages:
Knowing just the codes is not enough to become an expert and skilled developer. A solid understanding and in-depth knowledge of programming languages like JavaScript, CSS, HTML, JQuery, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and a few more basic ones are also required. Apart from these, the developer should also know about the latest PHP development tools available for easier coding, testing, and debugging. All these technical skills together can help developers to create websites that can offer better UX. 
 
Strong grasp of the PHP best practices and design patterns:
Familiarity with the design patterns and the best practices for PHP development is a must. This can speed up the web development process and offer instant solutions to some of the most common issues. This also helps in improving the code readability. Some common design patterns in PHP are Strategy, Singleton, and Factory but there are plenty more as well. 
 
The best practices in web development using this language also make the entire development process more efficient and effortless. 
 
Familiarity and practical experience in working with PSR, PHPUnit, and Composer:
There are some PHP development tools that every programmer must be aware of. Composer is the dependency manager that takes care of the classes, libraries, and functions and allows developers to easily install the different versions of all as per the project requirements. A Composer also checks the newer versions of the libraries and updates them as well. 
 
The PSR or PHP Standard Recommendation is designed to standardise the programming concepts and enhance the interoperability of the components of the language and its frameworks. Currently, there are 13 versions of the PSR and the developers must be familiar with all of them to avoid any unnecessary variations in the codes. 
 
PHP-Unit is a unit-testing framework that allows automated testing of smaller units of codes. 
 
And an ideal programmer must be familiar with and have a solid knowledge of all these. 
 
Good communication skills:
This is a must-have skill of every PHP developer. Professional and easy communication is very important between the programmer and the client. The client should be able to reach out to the developer any time whenever required and the programmer should also keep on giving the work updates regularly to the client. Also, the developer should ask about every detail before including or excluding anything or making any changes in the project. 
 
Quick learning and adaptability skills: 
A PHP programmer should always be willing to learn and adapt new PHP technologies that keep on getting introduced. The programming language continues to evolve and gets updated frequently and developers need to be aware of all updates and changes. 
 
So, these were the list of skills every reliable and proficient PHP developer possesses and you need to look for the same to ensure high-quality website development for your business. 
 
Jonathan Paul is one of the most experienced and well-versed PHP programmers of the top PHP development company in Australia, PHPProgrammers. The author has written this article to help you find the right programmer with all the required set of skills for your web project. 

Jonathan Paul is a techie, knowledgeable and highly skilled Magento Developer of Australia working with PHPProgrammers who like to share his industrial knowledge and insights with the readers.