In a recent post Quinton Parker looks at some of his experiences in preparing for and taking the Zend Certified Engineer test. He compares the experiences of taking the PHP4 version (in 2005) and more recently taking the PHP5 (in 2009).

Back in early 2005 the Zend certification first became available for PHP4. At that time I had roughly 2 years php experience. No South Africans were certified at that time. Barely 100 certified engineers worldwide. What a great achievement if I could join the elite few. [...] From purchasing the certification goods all the way to writing the exam it was a smooth experience and most worthwhile.

His experience with the PHP5 didn't quite go as well as the PHP4 version. He felt that the study guide lacked some of the depth the new version of the language needed and that, while it is a nice system, the Vulcan testing from php|architect needs a little bit of work. He still passed the test, though, and became the only South African to hold both PHP4 and PHP5 certifications

MTA (publisher of the php|architect magazine) has announced today that they have added a new training course materials/functionality to help you pass the Zend Framework Certified Engineer certification Zend offers.

We're proud to announce that we will be releasing two new products dedicated to the recently announced Zend Framework Certification. The first is a brand-new version of Vulcan, our exam simulator, built specifically for the ZFCE exam. Like our current ZCE Vulcan, the new version will provide a realistic simulation environment in which ZFCE candidates will be able to test their knowledge of the exam topics before taking the actual exam.

[...] In addition to the new release of Vulcan, we're happy to announce that we are hard at work on a new training course that will expand on our existing Zend Framework training course to provide specialized training for the ZFCE.

The new training will launch November 5th and will be open to all, including those with licenses for the previous version of Vulcan. The training course will be launched later on this fall.

Joseph Crawford has posted some of his thoughts on the mock testing that the folks over at php|architect are offering to help people prepare for Zend's PHP 5 Certification Exam.

So are you getting prepared to take the new PHP 5 Certification Exam offered by Zend? I have yet to see any books released for the preparation like i did with the PHP 4 exam, however there is something new and very cool. php|architect offers a Mock Tesing Environment which is powered by Vulcan Web Testing System.

Joseph talks about his experience, noting how he took the test and some of the topics that it covered. He definitely suggests taking it, too, as it provides a good glimpse into what you can expect come exam day.

Joseph Crawford has posted some of his thoughts on the mock testing that the folks over at php|architect are offering to help people prepare for Zend's PHP 5 Certification Exam.

So are you getting prepared to take the new PHP 5 Certification Exam offered by Zend? I have yet to see any books released for the preparation like i did with the PHP 4 exam, however there is something new and very cool. php|architect offers a Mock Tesing Environment which is powered by Vulcan Web Testing System.

Joseph talks about his experience, noting how he took the test and some of the topics that it covered. He definitely suggests taking it, too, as it provides a good glimpse into what you can expect come exam day.