Over the course of the last ten years, our focus has always been education-not just of our readers and customers, but also our own. We taught ourselves about publishing, organizing events, training, and dealing with people from all walks of life. Many of the things we learned were fun, and some not so much; all were very interesting. Most of all, we have learned to rely on the PHP community, which we watched grow and evolve alongside our favourite language.

[...] Thus, as the end of our first decade in business approaches and we have decided that we must move on, it's important for us to know that php|architect will remain in good hands. We are happy to announce that, effective January 1st, Musketeers.me LLC will take over the php|architect brand and all activities associated with it, including our magazine, books, training, and events.

You can find some more personal reflections from other members of the php|architect staff on their own blogs - Marco Tabini and Beth Tucker Long - and the official mention on the Musketeers.me blog.

"Don't Reinvent The Wheel" is a phrase that we hear used all the time in software development. Usually it's used in the context where a library exists to do what the user wants, but they are writing their own. While the sentiment is usually correct, I can't stand the implication of the phrase. Therefore, I can't stand it when people use that phrase without understanding what it really means. Let me explain...

He notes that, while there might be things out there that do something well, it doesn't mean that the "wheel is perfect" and you shouldn't venture out and try something new. He points out two places where it could be good - when a general solution doesn't work and for education/research.

Even as a senior developer, if you never try to reinvent the wheel from time to time, you'll never push your capabilities. You'll never expand your conceptual model of problems. And if you never do that, the world will blow past you.

PHP Training is an integral part of our PHP community and there are a lot of folks providing great training services making the PHP community safer and stronger. ServerGrove has long supported PHP education by sponsoring PHP User Groups and PHP Conferences, but we realised we have overlooked professional trainers. That is why we are pleased to announce our PHP Education Initiative.

Their part in the project is to provide resources (individual VPSes) for each of the individuals involved to give them a solid platform to work from. It's available to students, educator or user group leader involved in a PHP-centric training session. For more information on getting access to this resource, check out the post for contact information and what will be included.

Over the last few years I've become more familiar with multiple systems. I go over a few things that I've learned and the areas that I hope to improve upon over the next year.

His list of technology (including SVN, Drupal, WordPress and things like mailing list software and linux) serve as a good example to the wider world of developers out there to not become complacent in your skills and to be constantly learning. It doesn't have to be amazing, high level topics to be important - some of the best tools are the little things that help you work smarter and faster.

Bridgepoint Education, Inc. the #1 fastest growing company in San Diego, CA., is developing cutting-edge applications and is seeking an experienced Senior PHP Developer to join our team. As part of the team you will be applying your leadership experience, problem solving abilities, and coding skills to build world-class software. Your software will be used by thousands of customers. We are seeking the very best talent and if you are passionate about coding and welcome new challenges, we want to meet you.

Duties

• Full time, in-house position based in San Diego, CA.
• Full-cycle software system design, development, validation and deployment.
• Lead project implementation
• Heavily involved in programming, high-level software architecture and design, focused primarily on development of enterprise software - web applications, middle-ware, and automated systems.
• Update job knowledge by studying state-of-the-art development tools, programming languages and techniques and computing technologies.

Development Skills

• Strong PHP 5 experience
• 8+ years of experience in a technical role
• Solid understanding of object oriented design is required
• Experience with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Database design and SQL
• Experience with OS X, Linux or other Unix and Windows environments
• Experience with Web Services and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a plus

Bridgepoint Education, Inc. offers a competitive salary and benefits package, along with a fun and positive work environment, Gym on site, monthly Employee Appreciation event, and tuition remission plan. Small relocation package may be offered for those living outside the San Diego area.

To apply online, please visit: https://home.eease.com/recruit/?id=27499

The first, tip #7, was written up by Jonathan Holland. He talks about a method of using metrics software that works correctly with XHTML syntax. His example script basically does a dynamic add to the page when it's loaded to put the script tag in after the validation has taken place.

The next tip, #8 (written by Dordea Cosmin), looks at "non coding" types of things you can do to help work towards success in your company. These sorts of things include diplomacy, being friendly, and continuing education.

Join Zend's Education Programs Manager, Dhwani Vahia, in discovering the new Zend PHP 5 Certification.

In this webcast, she will introduce the new Certification and cover: why Zend is implementing this exam, what the new exam covers, testing methodologies, upcoming support products, and more!

If you'd like to be in the know and find out all you can about this new certification, be sure to sign up and check it out on August 4th at 1PM EDT.