Davey Shafik and Ben Ramsey on the Zend Certification Exam Study Guide

The new Zend Certification Study Guide is out and the initial reviews look good. Since this was a topic of interest to me (mainly because I’ve yet to take the test) I decided to dig a little deeper. I fired up my recorder and called Davey Shafik and Ben Ramsey, the authors of the new guide, to talk to them. Here to give you a little of the back story is our conversation.

Cal: Well I guess the first question I have is, when will the book actually be released? Also, what is the list price?
Davey: Well, the book is actually available for order right now. The price of the book is $32.99 (US)

Cal: Thank you Davey, now Ben, of the chapters you worked on, which was your favorite?
Ben: Well, I only worked on three chapters in the book. I think though, my favorite would have to be the chapter on Security. I enjoyed writing it and I feel that it’s solid. I know that on the original certification study guide only had about four pages on security. In this new one, we are up to twenty. So while we’ve expanded upon it, I think it’s still concise. I think we manage cover the entire gamut of security issues that PHP developers will face in those twenty pages.

Davey: The Security chapter is also the one that was chosen to be the sample chapter for anyone to download and read.

Cal: Davey, same question to you, of the chapters you worked on, which was your favorite?
Davey: Well, I covered a lot of ground in the book. Object Oriented Programming was fun, also the chapter on Theory and Design was interesting to work on. I think those two were the chapters I prefer over all the rest. I think they cover their areas very well. For that matter, I think the entire book covered everything in perfect detail, but I’m a bit biased.

Ben: I’d like to follow up on what Davey was saying. I’ve talked with several people who have said, “Yes, this would be an interesting book if I were interested in taking the exam”. I’d like to point out that this book is not only good preparation for the Zend Certification exam, its intended use; it’s also a good book for anyone learning PHP 5. It’s also a great primer on best practices and usages of the language.

Cal: Davey, I know you’ve taken the PHP 5 Certification Exam, can you give us any insight into it?
Davey: I have actually taken both exams. I took the PHP 4 exam about a year and a half ago and then just recently took the PHP 5 exam. The PHP 5 exam covers such a larger range of topics that are very pertinent to what PHP developers should know. It covers XML and other topics that you may not be fluent in, however it’s not a stretch to say that developers should know about these topics. Because of this, I felt that the PHP 5 exam was much better than the original in terms of the quality of the questions and the scope of the topics. I think this exam will make the title “Zend Certified Engineer” mean so much more.

Cal: Ben, I know you’ve not had a chance to take the new PHP 5 exam yet but you did take the PHP 4 exam. How do you use your ZCE status? Has it helped with your job status or do you use ZCE when considering new hires?
Ben: I can’t say that it’s been a factor yet in my professional career. However, I am involved in the hiring process at my company. When I am reviewing resumes, I look for people who are certified. When I get a resume that is not certified, I find it harder to tell what they know. I’ve found that people who are certified are a little more dedicated to their work.

Davey: While I am a developer at the company I work for, I’m also active in the hiring process for new developers. We also give preference to people who took the time to get themselves certified and we will do so even more with the PHP 5 certification. I agree with Ben on the fact that people who have taken the time to go out of their way to get certified have turned out to be more dedicated than people who don’t. That’s important to me when I’m reviewing resumes.

Cal: Davey, I know you’ve taken the practice test has out as well as the final PHP 5 certification test. What can you tell us about the practice test?

Davey: Basically, it’s an online system that puts you under the same conditions as far as time and quality of questions that you would find in the actual certification test. It gives you the experience in taking the exam and shows you your weak points so you know where to study. It’s great as a serious assessment tool. I’m confident that if you can pass the practice exam, you can pass the Zend Certified Engineer test as well.

Cal: Finally, let’s wrap this up by talking about a new contest you are running Davey. Would you like to tell us about it?
Davey: I spent some time trying to come up with a good idea for a competition centered around the certification. Mainly so I could get some good press for the book. I’m doing a lot of work on the Zend Framework these days and I thought it would be good to use Framework proposals for the competition. It came to me that this competition could also benefit the Zend Framework as well by exposing it to people who may not have seen it or have ideas but haven’t been interested in contributing thus far. To enter the competition, you must write and submit a proposal to the Zend Framework. Each proposal will be reviewed by a panel of judges. If anyone wants to participate, you can find details on the web at http://zceguide.com/ We aren’t working with the Zend Framework team directly on this and there is no guarantee that any winner will become part of the framework. The winner of the competition gets:

• 1 Zend Studio Professional License
• 1 Zend PHP 5 Certification Voucher
• A 1 Year Subscription to php|architect (PDF)
• A signed copy of php|architect’s Zend PHP 5 Certification Guide

I feel it’s a nice round of prizes and a fun completion. I invite everyone to join in.

With that we wrapped it up as these two had to get back to work, answering questions from people who wander into chat rooms and writing great books about PHP. I’d like to say thank you to Ben and Davey for taking the time to talk to me and I wish them luck with the book.

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