If you are interested in becoming a PHP professional, you should consider PHP Certification which demands passing a single exam including from 50 to 70 multiple-choice questions. This exam was created by the creator of the PHP language. After 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 The current version of the exam is based on PHP 5, and the PHP 4 exam has been outdated.

Make 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 accessible through the Pearson VUE test centers located virtually across the globe and is suggested in English, French, German, and Japanese.

While certification is no proof that you are able to perform on the task, doing the hard, hard work of certifying can help you prepare for the real world. Let’s be frank. If you just learn your stuff on paper, you won’t know what to do on the work.

This particular certificate comes with some peculiar profits. You get to be listed in the Zend Yellow Pages that prospective clients use to find local PHP professionals. You may also join a discussion group limited to ZCEs. This allows 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.

Because PHP is generally used as a web development language, the exam focuses on web application and development. You may desire to buy the Zend PHP 5 Certification Study Guide which includes the next 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 should also be able to answer questions about the PHP Data Object (PDO), and the Standard PHP Library (SPL).

There is no need to mention, there is no guarantee that mastering this study guide is enough to pass the exam.

There are two suggested PHP certification training courses; one positioned for people with no familiarity with PHP. This program is based on three 18-hour courses.

The other certification training program is based on a single 18-hour course. These courses are held on-line in real time and demand that you have a computer with a functioning web browser. Use my advice, don’t sign up for anything what costs more than a book until you download PHP and spend some period trying it out. One thing is sure; if you want to pass the exam you must run PHP hour after hour, day after day.

Get more imformation about PHP training by visiting PHP training courses and PHP training London