So, you want to develop software using PHP programming, and now you are looking to hire an expert PHP developer. But you don’t have any idea about how to hire a PHP web developer?
Don’t worry, you are at the right place, in this article, we provide a complete guide to hiring a PHP web developer, covering everything from basic skills to look for when hiring a PHP developer, to roles and responsibilities, to the cost of hiring a PHP web developer. Also, we have added a few tips which you should be aware of when hiring.
Table to Content
- Introduction
- What is PHP Programming Language?
- Who’s a PHP Developer?
- Roles and Responsibilities of a PHP Developer
- What are the Skills you should look for in a PHP Developer?
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- Beginner
- Mid- Level
- Experts
- How to check PHP developer’s capabilities?
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- What is a session and how is it different from cookies in PHP?
- What are the different kinds of errors in PHP?
- What are constructors and destructors in PHP?
- Tips to hire the right a PHP Developer
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- Evaluate communication and learning skills
- Don’t ask cliché questions
- Assess the attitude
- Cost to hire a PHP Developer in India and the US?
- Where to find PHP Developers?
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- Freelance Marketplace and PHP Developer Networks
- PHP Development Companies
- Conclusion
Introduction
There are other programming languages available too, including Javascript, Python, and Ruby. However, PHP is one of the programming languages that stands out among them all.
The language is quite easy to learn and accessible, which makes it one of the top programming languages. It has a plethora of frameworks and can easily run on any web server.
PHP is ranked as one of the most widely used and prominent programming languages in the world.
In 2021 a survey by w3techs, it was found that 79.1 percent of the world’s websites use PHP as a programming language for website development.
However, it’s not easy to build a robust website or use the language effectively for web development if you are not from a technical background.
If you want to scale your business and develop a dynamic website using PHP, you need to hire dedicated PHP developer to develop a successful web app/ website.
Hiring the right PHP developer can take your business to the next level with advanced techniques. Thus to help you in hiring an expert, we have created a step-by-step guide.
Before that lets understand more about PHP
What is PHP Programming Language?
The acronym PHP stands for Hypertext Preprocessor. It’s a scripting language that works great for web development. It’s used to develop dynamic websites, static websites, and web applications.
Scripting languages are used to interpret scripts. It’s used to run scripts at runtime to enhance the performance of routine tasks.
The PHP interpreter runs programs and is an interpreted language that uses an interpreter. Here PHP is interpreted into HTML.
In a nutshell, when a PHP page is accessed, the server parses the code and converts it into HTML. It’s very secure due to its lack of mutable code.
Also, PHP files contain Javascript, CSS, and HTML with the extension.php.
It is listed as one of the best programming languages by the TIOBE Programming Community Index. In fact, it has remained in the top spot for the past decade.
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Who’s a PHP Developer?
A PHP developer is a professional developer who develops websites, and applications using a scripting language, that is, PHP.
Often, these are referred to as web developers or software developers.
Roles and Responsibilities of a PHP Developer
1. PHP developers are responsible for developing the back-end development of websites, as the front-end development of the website is done by web technologies such as CSS, Javascript, and HTML.
2. Developers use PHP to build back-end components, supporting the front-end by integrating their work into web applications. Also, the developers should be well versed in HTML as they will have to work with it.
3. PHP developers have to develop web apps and meet deadlines.
4. Scale up the existing apps or add new features.
5. They do have to keep themselves updated with the latest programming technologies and advanced practices.
6. They should be able to handle compatibility issues across browsers, various platforms, and software.
What are the skills you should look for in a PHP Developer?
They should be well-versed in PHP coding and have the basic skill set of an average web developer.
An average web developer is aware of website requirements and troubleshoots. He knows how to analyze and implement database solutions and back-end features to enhance the performance of websites.
PHP developers should have the same fundamental skills as web developers and be familiar with PHP web frameworks such as CodeIgniter and Laravel.
Earlier, PHP used to support procedural programming, but after its fifth stable release, it started supporting OOP (Object-oriented Programming) as well.
PHP developers who believe in DRY (Don’t Dry Yourself), which makes code easier to debug and modify, should know how to use PHP by building objects and classes to achieve it.
You could also hire beginner PHP developers, mid-level PHP developers, or experts based on your budget, projects, and the skills you’re looking for in a PHP developer.
1. Beginner
If you have small projects or medium-sized projects with low development rates, then you could hire a beginner-level PHP developer.
Always remember that they should possess basic beginner’s skills like they should know basic HTML and PHP programming language, MVC design patterns, main PHP functions, and frameworks and should know how to work in Content Management System (CMS).
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2. Mid- Level
Mid-level PHP developers must have already worked on a few development projects and know how to build web apps. They don’t require much explicit monitoring as they’ve already worked.
The basic mid-level basic skills include analysis of product requirements, implementation of different databases and OOP (object-oriented programming) in PHP, known frameworks, and how to add back-end features to enhance app performance, as well as code troubleshooting.
3. Experts
PHP experts have decent experience as PHP developers, so they are well-versed in using the latest or most advanced technologies and practices.
Besides, they can analyze product requirements and recommend ways to make them more secure and effective. They can advise on how to improve product source code and which features should be added to the app to make it more effective.
The basic skill set that an expert PHP developer must know involves sufficient knowledge of most PHP frameworks, upgraded with advanced technologies like machine learning, IoT, blockchain, and many more.
If you have a good budget, then hiring expert PHP developers could be great for web development.
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How to check PHP developer’s capabilities?
Here are pointers / checklist to know the capabilities of PHP web developer
1. What is a session and how is it different from cookies in PHP?
The session is a method to store data for each user against a unique session ID. Generally, session IDs are used to retrieve session data. The data is sent to the server and these IDs are sent via session cookies to the web browser. The actual data is stored in the user’s session record.
Whereas cookies store data in visitors’ browsers and can be stored for a long time. The purpose of storing data is to track end-users.
2. What are the different kinds of errors in PHP?
There are four types of error available in PHP:
1. Parse errors-Generally – This error occurs when there’s a syntax error in the script. A parse error stops the execution of the script. This error can occur for various reasons, such as missing parentheses, unclosed quotes, unclosed braces, and missing semicolons.
2. Fatal errors – This error occurs when PHP is unable to perform the task that you have requested. Unlike parse errors, this error stops the execution of the script completely. The error occurs when you’re trying to use undefined functions.
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3. Warning errors – It doesn’t stop the execution of the script, and the error generally occurs when there’s a missing file or an incorrect number of parameters.
4. Notice errors – Like warning errors, here the execution of the script doesn’t stop. The error occurs due to undefined variables.
3. What are constructors and destructors in PHP?
A construct is a type of function that exists automatically when an object is created from a class. Whereas a destructor is a function that has to be called when an object gets deleted.
Tips to hire a right PHP Developer
These tips will help to introspect the interviewee’s capabilities. However, while hiring for a PHP developer at a senior position, you will have to be more vigilant while researching to hire the right PHP developer.
1. Evaluate communication and learning skills
You should hire a developer who’s not only competent to complete projects but also has sufficient knowledge and is updated with the latest technology trends.
Communication skills are important when hiring a developer. Although the developer might not be as fluent as a marketer or HR, he should know the basics of communication skills as there might be certain occasions where he might be required to talk to top management who aren’t developers.
Also, if he’s required to have a conversation with a client and is unable to converse, it can turn out to be a major setback for the company.
2. Don’t ask cliché questions
Before interviewing the candidates, create a list of questions. Do extensive research before curating a list of questions. Avoid cliché questions such as “what is PHP?” or “when was it released?”
Ask questions that you think are fit to scrutinize the developers’ skill sets and get the desired developers. It’s important to test the technical capabilities of a developer before hiring them.
You can consider questions such as how to set cookies in PHP, how to encrypt data with PHP, etc. You can also ask about his past experiences and past projects to evaluate his skills.
3. Assess the attitude
A developer must not only have good technical skills but also have good soft skills such as interpersonal skills. He should have the zeal to learn things and must carry a positive attitude.
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Cost to hire PHP Web Developer in India and the US?
The cost to hire a PHP web developer generally varies with the change in years of experience and knowledge of other programming languages. Hiring cost also depends on what resources you’re using to hire them. Whether you are willing to hire a freelancer, or dedicated PHP developers, ( onshore or offshore ).
If you reside in the USA, UK, or Europe, then hiring a freelance PHP developer from popular freelancing sites like Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer can cost you around $40 – $120 per hour, and hiring a freelancer from countries like India, Sri Lanka, China, Bangladesh can be cost-effective. It can cost you around $5 to $30 depending on their knowledge and experience.
On the other hand, If you are willing to hire dedicated In-House PHP web developers in the USA on a contractual basis ( Hourly/ Monthly ), then hiring costs can be around $70- $150 per hour. and hiring offshore software developers from popular offshoring countries like India can cost you from $15 – $50 per hour.
Where to find PHP Developers?
If you know which skills you’re looking for in a PHP developer, it makes hiring easier. You can check the following resources to hire the right PHP developer:
1. Freelance Marketplace and PHP Developer Networks
You might be familiar with some common yet effective freelance marketplaces such as Upwork and Fiverr.
If you have a small project to work on, then hiring freelance PHP developers works best. These marketplaces offer freelance services. Often, developers themselves advertise on such platforms.
If you know the skills that you’re looking for in a PHP developer, then you could easily filter the searches to hire.
Also, there’s a PHP community where they unite various PHP developers with different experiences.
2. PHP Development Companies
If you’re working on large projects and need experienced PHP developers, then it’s best to approach PHP development companies.
They provide a wide range of PHP developers in different spheres, such as custom development of procurement management systems, social network development, HRM, E-learning,
If you’re looking for experienced and top-notch PHP developers, then you could go with Graffersid. We provide experienced PHP developers for building secure, robust, and full-featured web apps.
Conclusion
If you want to build a dynamic website to boost your business growth in the long run, then PHP is the best programming language to go with.
Moreover, you could build GUI (Graphical User Interface) applications with it as well.
You need to hire the right PHP developers to build the perfect website. It’s best to always approach PHP development companies to find experienced PHP developers.
