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).

After a few weeks of getting into the down and dirty of CakePHP, the question is, "Is it worth using?"

The answer to that question is, "it depends".

To justify such a vauge answer, he points out some of his discoveries - like its simple model-based approach that works for most projects. He doesn't really compare it to other frameworks, making it a personal choice for the readers. One good thing that has come out of his involvement with the Framework is that, because of previous comments concerning it, Jonathan has joined the CakePHP documentation team and has started another more CakePHP-centric blog.

Included in his thoughts are things like:

• "We're worth just as much as Java Programmers - but we get no respect - and we'll never get it"
• "You get what you pay for and, a little bit, clients are starting to understand this."
• "The difference between great PHP programmers and people who say they can do PHP is vastly more dramatic than you'd expect."

He agrees with Ben on just about everything, throwing in a comment there at the end about doing things for free:

Never, ever do anything for free*. I'd rather be paid $100 for $1,000 of work then take "options" or "stock" in lieu of cash. Clients never value what they get for free so you always have to charge them something. The "something" might not be large but it needs to be something. (ammended with an exception for charitable organizations/good causes)