I once did this YouTube video.
It was called the “Exact PHP Skills You Need to Learn to Get Paid to Code.” The idea was there’s all these things you think you need to learn or you get told by some ranting know-it-all that you need to learn…
But, in reality…
You only use a small fraction of those skills on a regular basis.
So, I made a list of the things you’ll use most often as a PHP developer.
The things that make up 90% of the coding I do.
Variables, arrays, loops…
That sort of thing.
It’s been funny to watch the comments over the years. Predictably, a hoard of know-it-alls have chimed in with their “but, but”. “You need to learn OOP and form security and Laravel…”
It always turns into this massive “wish list”.
And sure… learn those things.
But, that wasn’t the point.
The point is… what’s the absolute bare minimum to get started?
Because, the reality is with any language or technical skill, there’s a 20% of all the skills you could learn that you’ll actually use 80% of the time in your work. So, why learn some random thing you’ll use twice a year… when you’re starting?
And ignore or spend less time on something you’ll use over and over again?
You shouldn’t.
Of course, the trick is figuring out that 20%.
Which was the point of the video.
Thankfully, most people get it.
I’ve had probably 10 times as many positive comments like this:
“I’ve been coding for two years, read almost every book you could read cover to cover. I knew the languages and even how to use them, but I felt as if I had to be perfect and and that I needed to remember every tag, property and function to be considered a professional. I was anxious that my skills were not up to par, but listening to your podcast had helped me realize I have the skills to be professional web developer. Thanks man.”
Which was the entire point.
To free you up from that “perfection trap”.
Thinking you need to learn 1000 things before you can get hired.
You don’t.
In any case, I think that’s why my students tend to have success coming out of my PHP course. Because, I teach them the things that they’ll actually use in their jobs, not 1000 obscure things they’ll use once or twice…
But, that make me look smart.
I don’t care about me.
It’s YOU that matters.
Anyway, if you wanna take my PHP course, you can get access to it for nothing over on Skillshare. And yes… when you’re done with it, you can jump into my PHP OOP course and the other advanced PHP courses I have, as well.
They’re all over there.
And, you can access them all for free.
Link for all the details on how is here: https://johnmorrisonline.com/skillshare
Later,
John
