Today is PHP’s 20th birthday! it’s incredible to think what it has become today. Thinking back to when I first started learning php for doing really basic stuff like simple page includes within a static site. As suggested by Ben Ramsey in this blog post, I'd also like to tell my story with PHP.
I first encountered PHP in 2002 whilst making a fan sites for games I was into at the time, GTA and Total Overdoes if I remeber correctly! I used phpnuke to build and manage the site’s content and users. phpnuke was powerful for it’s time written in php it could do a lot, at the time I didn’t know php at all. I could only do what the user interface allowed me to do.
I starting reading tutorials and forums, slowly getting to grips with FTP and editing the php files, constantly breaking my sites! learning how modules and files fit together.
I got to the point where I was no longer terrible at php! so much so I decided to go to university and get a degree using PHP. Now I spend most days working with PHP it’s the core of my job as a devleoper. PHP has allowed me to build my own CMS which this blog uses. I’ve also released a PHP framework called Simple MVC Framework.
I feel very lucky to be involved with PHP the community is amazing, the abundence of learning materials and support from fellow developers is fantastic. I could not have got through univeristy without the community!
A new resource or potential advisor/mentor is never far away.
How did you first encounter PHP? For PHP’s twentieth birthday, I’d like to encourage you to post your own PHP story on your blog. Then, post it to Twitter using the hashtag #20yearsofphp. Also, be sure to follow along as @phpc posts PHP community milestones throughout the day.