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I'm a newbie with PHP, Mysql and Perl and really like it. My question is this: With Open Source software being the most prevalent on the Net, why are there fewer advertised jobs than with Microsoft and others?
If you go to Monster.com or other online job boards and do the search, you will notice the striking difference.
I just went to Monster.com and did a national search on jobs where PHP was required. There were 276 hits just a minute ago.
I did the same for Microsoft's ASP. There were 3,931 hits. Whoa, big difference.
Here's a link (hope it's still good by the time you read this) to one of the PHP jobs. This webhosting company wants an experienced Java, Perl, PHP programmer. The salary is $24k - $30k. WTH! Is this typical?
At least for PHP, most companies dont like this language. They hear big buzzwords like Java servlets or ASP.NET or something of the like. Why? Because PHP doesnt market itself very well. Since PHP is opensource and free, PHP doesnt pay (like Sun or Microsoft) to hire marketers to go after big buisnesses pushing there language over another. This is one reason. Second reason. Companies are scared I think of opensource. They think free and think inferior. They think open, they think security risk. Third, since you are programing in a true opensource language, an opensource language I think lends itself to opensource applications and development.
The upswing is, companies are starting to see that PHP is a nice language, and an ASP alternative under *nix systems.
Yeah...but also its a matter of support. When you use PHP or other open source tools...you are pretty much on your own. You pay microsoft for support as much as you do for the code. (How long until REHAT support costs more than Windows?) You have a problem...you can call tech support and they can hold your hand. Plus if you have huge money invested in your content/products/services/ it makes sense to have a scapegoat when the whole thing comes crashing down.
Hmm That's too bad. I never noticed this before since I do program in PHP/mysql at my job (and yes I love it. )
I think companies need to see samples of things that can be done in PHP rather than paying big bucks for other languages because they're a 'trusted' brand name.
I am a PHP newbie but the following I think is important.
I use ASP at work and PHP in my other interests.
First my webserver people at work, god bless them are as dumb as a box of rocks. I don't mean that against their person, thats just the way it is. Many times when I want to do some ASP script that is useful to my department ( photography ) the script won't work because the webserver (MS) isn't configured correctly. ( hey I can do ASP includes; yippie ). If I need a serious database ( Access is a non starter for anything serious ) My next step is MS SQL or Oracle ( not an option in my situation ) The IT department is maybe not too open to anything that makes their job harder ( my situation only not a broad brush )
Now I have just started using PHP in my outside of work interests and you know what? I am yet to be limited by anything. The only roadblocks I encounter are based on my lack of experience.
So there you go. Not a total answer. But if you had to start a project today I think you first have to decide: " Do you want maximum growth room in case it gets big?" And you know what? If I had to, I would pay for PHP and MySQL if needed. So for me the price by itself doesn't mean much. I don't think I would use ASP if it were free, given what I know now.
But I have to go with what puts food on the table. Not just for the next job, but something that a lot of companies will likely hire on the long-term for (although it's hard to use the word 'long-term' when it comes to IT nowadays).
Believe me, in today's IT job market, it gets ugly out there if you get unemployed. Just go visit the Technology forum at monster.com. Lots of lost souls there. Best to stick with something that improves your chances for a job. No matter how good you are. You can be a $100k per year programmer today but tomorrow start the stretch of unemployment that can last for a year.
But, I'd rather there be the same number of jobs with PHP with 6-figure dollar jobs than other platforms!
Still though...the key to hireability is variation. the more you know...the more you know. I have made money with php but not only php. If you are a web programmer you need to know a little of everything. Java, Javascript, ASP, PHP, Perl, MySql, Oracle, etc.
Where are the PHP & Open Source jobs?
Then, PHP for hobby stuff...
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