Today I passed the exam to become a PHP 5.3 ZCE. Like everyone else I had to sign the non-disclosure contract so I can't go into detail about the questions that were asked, I can however tell my impressions of the exam and how prepared for it.

His preparations included going over some of the older sample tests and some additional study time on streams. He also mentions the PhpRiot iPhone/iPad application that helped him prepare as well as a few of the training courses he bought for certain topics. His overall impression of the exam was that it was more difficult, with plenty of open questions made for you to fill in an answer.

In the last few weeks I've both passed the certificate myself and also taught Zend's certification training course as a classroom course at NTI Leeds. I thought I'd share my top tips for preparing for taking the ZCE - getting to the standard, last-minute preparations, and also some tips for surviving the day itself (disclaimer: everyone sitting the ZCE signs a declaration not to disclose the contents of the exam, so I can't actually tell you the questions, sorry!)

She recommends that only developers with at least a year or two of using PHP regularly take the exam due to the amount of PHP knowledge needed. If you haven't at least touched on most aspects of the language, you might have a difficult time with it. She also points out the lack of up-to-date training materials, some of the things she did the night before as a refresher and a few tips for specific parts of the exam.

First of all, the exam is quite complex, yet it's pretty much easy to pass if you're writing PHP code using latest additions like namespaces, late static binding or lambda functions. Even if you do not use these techniques in your code, but you're aware of them and saw PHP syntax for those features (including restrictions like "namespace" keyword proper placement), it would not be a problem for a candidate to pass Zend PHP 5.3 exam.

He includes a few things that could trip you up in the exam including questions one differences in file system functions and some that were just, as he puts it, "stupid." (some were matters of opinion)

Before starting the exam, I had to sign a non-disclosure contract with Zend Technologies, Inc. to keep the contents to myself, so don't ask me what questions were asked. I can write a short article on how I prepared myself to pass the exam and what you can do to achieve the same successful outcome.

He gives links to and mentions several of the resources he used to learn all he needed like the official Zend PHP 5.3 Certification Guide, the PHP.net site for reference on several sections that were more PHP 5.3-specific (like namespaces, DateTime and Streams).

According to Zend , the exam covers the following topics: PHP Basics, Functions, Data Format & Types, Web Features, Object Oriented Programming, Security, I/O, Strings and Patterns, Databases and Arrays. I will detail each topic as to what you should expect at the exam, however I will first tell you some basic information about the exam. Then I will tell you about the three most important changes of PHP 5.3 and another new feature I find very useful.

He starts with a few of the basics of the exam (how many questions, his testing strategy, the number of fill-in-the-blank questions) before moving into each of the topics. It's not an exhaustive description of each, but it gives you a good idea of where to start when studying. There's lots of links to resources for each that'll take you to some great places to learn in more detail.

Summer is upon us, which means that the annual Zend/PHP Conference (ZendCon), the world's largest gathering of the PHP community, is drawing near. Preparations are already in high gear, and you can make an impact on what fellow PHPers will wear in Fall of 2010! Submit your cool t-shirt designs or just cast your vote. The winning design will be used for the new 'official' PHP t-shirt. Every ZendCon attendee (and some others) will be getting the free t-shirt, and you get a free pass to the conference!

Besides the ticket to ZendCon, there's also two other prizes for the runners up - a free pass for a Zend Certification Exam (5.3) and a pass for a Zend Framework Certification Exam. There's about seven weeks left to submit your design and are currently eight entries on the list, so get your design in early to give it the best chance for the most votes. The submission round will end September 30th, so get your designs in soon!

Well, the only two official resources are a downloadable study guide and an instructor-led course. The study guide lists all the main areas of the framework that will be tested and offers a high level explanation of how they work. [...] I don't have any personal experience with the course, so I can't offer any specific comments on it. I have taken other courses from Zend, however, and the quality of those have been quite good.

He also points out this presentation from Rob Allen as another source. His recommendation, though, is that you read as much as possible from the Zend Framework's manual, but leaving out points on Zend_Tool and Zend_Application (they didint seem to make it into the test). He passed on the first try, so hopefully this advice, somewhat proven now, can help you down the right path.

Today I took and passed the Zend Framework certification exam. A possible project involving Zend might be materializing in the near future, and this was a requirement from one of my contractors (OpenIT). Being that they offered to sponsor the cost, I had no reason not take it.

He talks about the test and the testing procedure - one and a half hours long with seventy-five questions in all. Most were multiple choice but some asked for the resulting output from some code. Lots of topics are covered including specific modules and general MVC architecture. He points out a slightly discouraging fact - that the number of "trick" questions seemed a bit high.

I do have some more respect for people holding the certification now (regarding knowledge and experience), though I'm not sure what regard does it hold in the industry.

Although I am certain that having a PHP certification is not the only way to demonstrate that a PHP developer is really qualified, I am sure that it helps hinting employers about his skills, and so become more open to negotiate better salaries. Having a PHP certification also helps a developer stand out from the crowd of developers that apply to a job but do not have any certification.

In the interview Manuel talks with Mauricio (a Brazilian PHP developer) about whether or not he feels the certification is worth it, how a developer can take it and what they need to do to prepare for it as well as a mention of a book that might help.

Michael Kimsal has also posted some of his own thoughts on the certification issue (and of the comments made during the interview).

Zend Certification is an important step for a PHP developer. It is a very good chance to evaluate your skills, show your experience to your co-workers and potential customers.

He points out Zend's resource for all things ZCE, using the ZCE Yellow Pages to find others in your area and the process he went through to prepare for and take the exam. Oh, and in case you're wondering - yes, he passed.