If you are interested in becoming a PHP professional, you should really consider PHP Certification. Certification means passing a single exam that consists of 50 to 70 multiple-choice questions. This exam was developed by the creator of the PHP language. When you pass the exam you are entitled to call yourself a Zend Certified Engineer (Ontario, Canada uses the term Zend Certification Endorsed), ZCE for short. The current exam is based on PHP 5, and the PHP 4 exam has been retired so be sure that any study materials you use are based on PHP 5. You can get an exam voucher at the online Store Zend PHP Certification for $125. This exam is available through the Pearson VUE test centers located virtually across the globe and is offered in English, French, German, and Japanese.

What do you get for passing this exam? The first answer is professional recognition. While certification is no proof that you can really perform on the job, doing the hard, hard work of certifying can help you prepare for the real world. Let's be frank. If you only know your stuff on paper, you won't know what to do on the job. Before very long you'll be pounding the pavement. In a community like ZCE the word spreads fast.

This particular certificate includes some unusual benefits. You get to be listed in the Zend Yellow Pages that prospective clients use to find local PHP professionals. You can also join a discussion group limited to ZCEs. This enables you to chat with colleagues. At present there are more than 350 members of this group, out of the more than 2000 Zend Certified Engineers.

PHP is mainly used as a web development language, so the exam focuses on web application and development. You may wish to purchase the Zend PHP 5 Certification Study Guide which contains the following chapters: PHP Basics, Functions, Arrays, Strings and patterns (regular expressions included), Web Programming, Object Oriented Programming in PHP, Database programming, Elements of Object-oriented Design (Design patterns), XML and WebServices (invoking the new DOM library), Security, Streams and Network Programming, and Differences between PHP 4 and PHP 5. You must also be able to answer questions about the PHP Data Object (PDO), and the Standard PHP Library (SPL). Make no mistake, mastering this study guide is no guarantee that you will pass the exam.

The company offers two PHP certification training programs; one positioned for those with no familiarity with PHP. This program is based on three 18-hour courses. Their other certification training program is based one 18-hour course. These courses are offered on-line in real time so you must have a computer with a functioning web browser. Take my advice, don't sign up for anything more expensive than a book until you download PHP and spend some serious time trying it out. One thing is sure; if you want to pass the exam you must run PHP hour after hour, day after day. If you don't like that do something else.