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The 1st release of PHP was way back in 1995. That’s quite some time ago when it comes to the software development industry. However, in this time, many developers and organizations have done great things with it.
For example, Magento, the popular eCommerce platform uses PHP as its underlying technology. CMS platforms like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla also use PHP as their foundation too.
By its very design, PHP makes it easy to accomplish a number of web development tasks. For example, developers have built PHP scripts that allow you to easily put a Skype live chat box on your website.
Many developers know PHP, so you might think that hiring PHP developers is easy. Indeed, you can find PHP developers on freelancer platforms, and lots of them too. However, the hiring process can be quite problematic for a number of reasons. We will cover these later on.
To negate these problems, you need to analyze your project requirements carefully. This will help you to choose the right hiring models. We will also get to this later.
To save you some time, DevTeam.Space is a community of expert developers and development teams. We are one of the best-performing software development companies in the industry (see our Clutch reviews).
In order to offer maximum flexibility, we allow our clients to either outsource individual developers or development teams or engage us to undertake the full project development. If you wish to learn more then it only takes 3 minutes (yes, we have timed it) to fill out a project specification form and one of our account managers will get in touch to arrange a complimentary discovery call to answer any questions you might have.
Ok, so let’s get into it. Let’s start by looking at how you can evaluate, shortlist, and interview your PHP programmers for hire. Please note that this is a generalized list as there are such a wide range of possible projects out there. We have tried to focus on PHP web development projects for increased clarity.
We suggest that you look for the following skills:
Essential PHP programming skills
When you interview PHP developers, you should look for the following:
- The programmer should have in-depth skills in PHP. While this programming language has many strengths, it also has certain limitations. You need PHP developers that know how to use the strengths of PHP to your advantage while managing the limitations.
- You might have planned to use one of the popular PHP frameworks in your custom project. Laravel, Codeigniter, Symfony, and CakePHP are a few examples. If so then we advise you to look for PHP programmers that have at least several years of experience in your choice of framework.
- Successful PHP programmers should have experience with front-end technologies like JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3. This is especially important for website development projects.
- You need PHP developers that have in-depth knowledge in modern SQL databases like MySQL and PostgreSQL. You should also look for experience in popular NoSQL databases like MongoDB.
- You should look for PHP developers that know how to create database schemas.
- Effective PHP developers know how to integrate various data sources and databases into one application system.
Other skills that are important to developing web applications using PHP
You should look for a few more skills, however, these aren’t necessarily tied to PHP. These are as follows:
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- A good understanding of the “Model-View-Controller” (MVC) design patterns;
- Object-oriented programming skills;
- Server-side development skills;
- Familiarity with common source code management tools;
- The skills to develop scalable web apps.
Note: Depending on the features you offer in your web app, you could also use other modern technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Analytics, etc. You need to evaluate such skills separately, e.g., Python for AI development.
As stated in the introduction, we are primarily focusing on the skills needed for web development using PHP.
Other software development skills required for PHP web development
To ensure a successful final product, you need PHP developers that have some other skills too. These are as follows:
A. The skills to secure web applications
Most web apps process some amount of sensitive data. These will vary from application to application. An eCommerce application will process payment data, whereas an online learning web app will process user credentials, etc.
No matter what kind of sensitive information you process in your app, you need to secure it. Data security and privacy have emerged as a key focus area for almost all businesses, and governments have stepped up to ensure businesses protect their users. Depending on the industry you serve, you will likely need to comply with stringent regulations concerning data security and privacy.
You need PHP developers who know how to code secure apps. Consider the following:
- The knowledge of key application security risks and how to mitigate them;
- The knowledge of tools and technologies like multi-factor authentication (MFA) and encryption;
- Good background in compliance and security testing, which helps developers to collaborate proactively with security and compliance testers;
- The knowledge of securing 1st party APIs that you might develop.
B. Knowledge to develop 1st party APIs
APIs have made a big difference to modern software development since they allow the front end of an application to access the backend using a consistent framework. You can scale up your software development process very quickly using APIs.
For a few non-core features, you can use leading 3rd party APIs. However, using too many 3rd party APIs can cause many dependencies. We always recommend that you develop 1st party APIs for your core features. This requires red-hot developers.
The de-facto standard for API development is REST (Representational State Transfer). We recommend you develop RESTful APIs when developing PHP web applications. You should look for the following skills:
- Developers should know how to host APIs using cloud platforms.
- They should know how to use modern databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB to build the backend.
- Programmers should know how to use relevant tools for API development and documentation.
- You need developers to know how to create API endpoint URLs intelligently. They should also be able to create effective rules for API requests and responses.
- Programmers should know how to secure APIs. They need to use various tools and techniques like authentication tokens, encryption, quotas, throttling, and secure gateways for this.
C. Knowledge of working with cloud platforms
You should use cloud platforms to expedite your project. For web application development, “Platform-as-a-Service” (PaaS) platforms can help enormously.
Reputed PaaS platforms manage the cloud infrastructure, networking, storage, operating system, middleware, and runtime environment. This means that you can focus on development instead of infrastructure management.
You will benefit from using the DevOps tools and auto-scaling solutions offered by PaaS platforms too. PaaS platforms also help you to integrate APIs. Look for coders that know how to work on reputed PaaS platforms like AWS Elastic Beanstalk (if you are going to use AWS), etc.
D. Knowledge and experience in successfully delivering software development projects
Delivering successful software development projects requires more than technical skills. You should look for the following:
- PHP programmers should have lots of experience in reviewing code. While testing is important, it can’t unearth all defects. Code review is crucial to detect some types of defects, and application security vulnerabilities are prime examples of this. Code review can also detect defects early in the cycle. You should look for experienced PHP programmers since they typically have more code review experience.
- Successful programmers know how to code in line with the UI design. They know how to implement the intricacies of a great UI design in their code.
- While software architects choose the architecture pattern, effective programmers should know how to code in alignment with the architectural decisions.
- Great PHP programmers know how to work in a team. Take the example of establishing a CI/CD environment. Effective collaboration between developers, testers, and DevOps engineers carry as much importance for this as DevOps tools. Look for the ability to collaborate.
How to find the best PHP developer?
You now know the skills to look for when hiring PHP programmers. It’s time to start the hiring process, which involves the following:
1. Choose freelancer platforms or a development company?
Choosing the right hiring platform is an important factor. Hiring incompetent people from the wrong platform can derail your project. Turning a troubled project around requires lots of hard work and money. Every year, we are asked to pick up the pieces of scores of projects that are failing for this very reason. Don’t make this mistake!
Think through your project requirements carefully. This can help you to choose the right hiring platform. If you have a simple project then the general-purpose freelancer sites make it easy to hire PHP web developers. You can interview the candidate directly. Unfortunately, it does require lots of time to vet them.
Please remember that freelancers won’t work full-time on your project. Managing the project schedule can be hard if you have part-time developers.
Also, these platforms don’t offer any management oversight. If you are in the USA and managing a freelancer from halfway around the world then time differences and general management processes become important!
We recommend that you only hire from regions that have at least 3 to 4 hours of time overlap. This will give you enough time to manage your developer.
Software development-focused freelancer sites have stringent screening processes. They claim to allow only the top developers into their communities, therefore, they will more likely provide you with experienced PHP developers with robust skills. The downside is that they don’t provide any management oversight, and you need to mitigate the risks of working with freelancers.
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Dedicated software development companies such as DevTeam.Space allow you to hire PHP developers from their vetted communities. We offer a transparent and simple contracting process, which is aimed to help save time. All of our developers work full-time for our platform and are experts in their field too.
We implement physical, technical, and procedural safeguards to secure your sensitive data. We get our developers to sign a “Non-Disclosure Agreement” (NDA). This proactive approach to data security means that you can rest easy at night knowing your project is in safe hands.
2. Interview the shortlisted candidates
Now that you have decided on the right hiring platform, assuming that you have not hired from a dedicated software company that will do all the leg work for you, you will need to start the interview process.
If you are a PHP expert, then you should be able to interview the shortlisted candidates. If you aren’t an expert, then we suggest that you ask a friend, an associate, or hire a PHP consultant with PHP expertise to conduct the interviews. Sourcing interview questions online will help, but you need the knowledge to back it up. Get in touch if you need further help.
Ensure that you cover the skills we have highlighted. Take the time to investigate each candidate’s past PHP project experience. This is very, very important.
Remember that projects like eCommerce development are relatively easy, therefore, look for more complex PHP projects in their portfolio. Review the testimonials in their portfolio. Don’t make the mistake of basing your decision on them alone.
Ask how they dealt with complexities and what kind of development processes they have used. Check their knowledge of coding best practices and find out how they go about debugging complex errors. Focus on application security and find out how they would mitigate key security vulnerabilities like injection, broken authentication, etc.
Explain your project requirements to the shortlisted candidates. Ask for their view on the project and how they would go about it. Don’t satisfy yourself with general responses, ask complex follow up questions to delve deeper into specific points made in their answers.
Note: At DevTeam.Space, we value honesty above all. Don’t dismiss a candidate because they admit that they don’t know a solution to a problem during the skills interview. Here is a top tip that we have successfully used for nearly a decade now.
Top Tip: If you are impressed enough by a candidate but find that they cannot answer a specific problem during the skills interview then allow them to pass into the next interview stage.
Give them at least a day or two then undertake the interview. During this interview, ask the candidate the same question again to see if they have an answer. If they do then you know you have a motivated and honest developer on your hands.
We are fond of saying that you can find plenty of unmotivated, talented developers but you NEVER find any unmotivated, great developers.
Dont Forget to Provide detailed information about your application development project
Finally, once you have selected your PHP developers, you need to provide them with all the information the need to succeed in your project. Get them to sign an NDA if you are worried about property theft.
Explain the project background to them and provide detailed documentation like requirements, technical solutions, architectural decisions, etc.
They will need to work closely with the rest of your team so introduce them to your team so they can get to know each other. Establish a rock-solid communication process. The developers you select need access to the technical environment of your project, therefore, grant them the relevant access. Show them your code repositories in GitHub.
You need to establish accountability. Give a detailed overview of the roles and responsibilities. Explain your project plan including sprints, etc. Describe the various milestones and acceptance criteria. Describe the review process and how you will approve milestones. You are now ready to start.
Interview tips for you when you hire PHP programmers
Keep the following interview tips in mind when you look for PHP programmers:
A. Assess the performance tuning experience
As a server-side scripting language, PHP offers a lot. However, it’s not a compiled language. It’s not as fast as the popular compiled programming languages. PHP development teams need to proactively work towards closing the performance gaps.
Look for software developers with experience in performance tuning in PHP projects. This will especially pay off in PHP web development projects.
B. Evaluate the relevant PHP development experience
You need a laser-like focus on relevant experience. Don’t be tricked into thinking that the best PHP developers are necessarily the ones with the best theoretical knowledge.
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PHP is a programming language with many features. Even the top PHP developers might not know all of its features fully. This is because they don’t really need to know all of the features!
A successful PHP project focuses on simplicity. Successful teams work with the 80:20 rule. They meet 80% of the project requirements with 20% of the programming language capabilities.
This is why you should focus on the relevant project experience over theoretical knowledge. That’s also why we recommend you hire programmers from trustworthy PHP web development companies like DevTeam.Space that offer highly credible PHP development services. You can easily assess the relevant experience of developers. We cover all this during our complimentary calls.
On the other hand, it’s hard to assess the relevant experience of freelance PHP developers. Freelance PHP developers might show a comprehensive project portfolio. You might think that you found highly competent freelance PHP developers. However, you can’t easily assess their project experience.
Keep in mind that it’s also harder if you hire remote PHP developers that are freelancers. After all, you don’t meet remote PHP developers face-to-face! That’s why it makes sense to hire from reputable companies like DevTeam.Space that can show you impartial feedback left on third-party review websites like Clutch as well as their past projects and testimonials.
C. Focus on skills in libraries and built-in modules
You want your team to be productive. Therefore, you should have developers that know how to use PHP to their advantage.
PHP provides excellent library support. This helps you with data representation. The language also has built-in database connection modules. They help you to connect with databases. Look for programmers with extensive knowledge of libraries and built-in modules.
Examples of coding questions to ask when you hire a PHP developer
Here are a few example PHP questions for lower-level PHP developers. You can find more complex example PHP questions on our PHP interview question page.
A. Show a few examples of comparison operators in PHP.
Answer: You can use the PHP comparison operators to compare two different values. The following are a few examples:
- “Equal”: This operator checks if two values are equal after type juggling. The syntax is “$a == $b”.
- “Identical”: You can compare if two values of the same type are equal using this operator. Its syntax is “$a === $b”.
- “Less than”: With this operator, you can check if one value is less than the other. The syntax is “$a < $b”.
B. How can you loop through each key/value pair in a PHP array?
Answer: PHP programmers can use the “PHP foreach loop” for this. The syntax is as follows:
foreach ($array as $value) {
//write the code block that should be executed here
}PHP assigns the value of the current array element to “$value”. Subsequently, it moves the array pointer by 1. PHP continues this process for each loop iteration until the last element.
C. How do you calculate the total number of days between two dates in PHP?
Answer: Use the following code to calculate the total number of days between two dates:
<?php
$dateX = "2022-02-01"; # date X
$dateY = "2022-02-05"; # date Y
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PHP is a powerful and versatile language. While it allows you to do a lot, remember that software development using PHP can get complex. You need programmers who know how to navigate such complexities.
If you want access to great developers and development teams then why not take 3 minutes and fill out this DevTeam.Space product specification form?
A dedicated account manager from DevTeam.Space will then get in touch with you to arrange a complimentary discovery call with one of our account managers who will answer any questions that you might have.
