Preparing and sitting for the Zend PHP 5.3 Exam

Well after passing the ZCE exam, a LOT of people were e-mailing me asking on how to prepare for the exam or how to learn the basics and everything. So I just thought that I’ll write a blog about it and share it with everyone. Learning PHP wasn’t that hard for me because I used to work with a more complicated languages before – C and C++. 2 years back when I moved on to PHP from C/C++, it seemed to be easy for me because I already had much idea on programming concepts and PHP syntax is VERY much similar to C. But well, for beginners, I’d recommend that they should start exploring the web on PHP.

To begin with the basics, the BEST place to learn PHP will be W3Schools.com. A complete newbie will certainly face a lot of problems while learning PHP. Well I’d recommend that before PHP, one should complete the HTML, then CSS and then Javascript tutorials first. Otherwise, learning PHP would not be much meaningful. All of these tutorials can be found in that site. In many many places, you will surely face problems, and if you do, don’t hesitate to Google for it! Google is always a programmer’s best friend (something Mr.Hasin Hayder told me). After finishing the tutorials in W3Schools, one should be able to write small PHP apps and create dynamic websites too! I’d recommend that after learning the basics, one should try hitting on a project first. Any sort of idea/website can be made. Whenever there’s a problem Google it and find a solution. And slowly gain more and more knowledge on PHP from the web.

In the climax stage of learning the PHP language for Zend PHP 5.3 Exam, I’d say, one has to read the book “Architect’s Zend PHP 5 Certification Study Guide”. This is the only book that I found to profound the PHP language and present everything in great detail so that things can be understood more and more easily. But this won’t be enough while sitting for the Zend PHP 5.3 Exam. In that case another book is very important – “Zend PHP 5.3 Certification Study Guide”. But, unfortunately, this book does not provide much detail on any part of the language. Instead it acts as a very short reference to nearly all small elements of the PHP language. And there are a lot of questions (with answers) which can/should be solved to test one’s understanding of PHP so far. If someone is stuck in ANY part of the language, Google is again the biggest help!

After you think that you’re ready and can sit for this exam, I’d recommend buy the PHP Exam Voucher from www.zend.com via Paypal or any international credit card. If not possible then you can buy a voucher from any of the popular testing centers in Bangladesh that supports Pearson VUE exams. The best place for buying/giving the exam according to be is the New Horizon Learning Center in Bangladesh. I, myself gave my exam there along with many other people including the first-ever ZCE in Bangladesh – Mr.Hasin Hayder.

Benefits – One question that many people ask is that what are the benefits of being a ZCE. Well I’d say many! For example – I, myself, got a very interesting job with very much satisfactory facilities within 1-2 weeks after I became a ZCE. Other then that, you’re name gets listed in the PHP Yellowpages and you can join the LinkedIn community for ZCEs. By being a ZCE, you can prove that you’re fully-skilled to develop PHP web applications and will get recognized internationally. Right now there are about 7,500 ZCEs all over the globe. Might sound a lot, but it isn’t because the exams started back in 2004. In Bangladesh, from the year 2006 till now there are only 34 ZCEs all over the country!

I hope this article will help you atleast a bit in learning/knowing more about PHP and will be more useful than it will be irritation. Thanks!