Who can tell me the "market value" of a PHP/MySQL programmer?

I am still a student actually. Among all the languages I learned, I found myself most comfortable with PHP and thinking to become a PHP programmer someday after graduation. But then some of my friends told me to quit that mind based on this statement: PHP programmer will definitely not having high market value as other language programmers especially Java Programmer. According to them, an experienced (3 years and above) Java Programmer can even have up to $7k (or more) a month! And they said definitely a PHP Programmer, no matter how skillful is he/she, will not be giving such high compensation. Is it true? I wonder.

I need more opinion from different people other than just my SCHOOL FRIENDS. Feel free to share your opinion here.

mao

It all depends on your skill set, experience and more. $7k can be made in php for 2 weeks of work, or can be made in php for 6 weeks of work - it depends on the job at hand, your experience, your skill set, what the job entails, who it is for, etc etc etc.. This is a very broad subject and talked about in this forum many times before.

It also depends on who the client is and how much you can con them... Richard Alston (Australian Minister for IT and Communications) spending AU$4 million on a website...

yep, there's no clear cut "market value" for php programmers or for any type of programmers for that matter.

Ok mayb i shud put it this way:

Is PHP programmer of high demand nowadays?

My advice is: Try to do what you enjoy (8 hours a day is a lot more worth than money), but have a large enough skill base (e.g. getting Java certified) that it is possible 4 you to switch (when there isn't a demand 4 your skills anymore).

Once again this depends on what you want and your skill set. If you want to do contracting work and you have a good skill set there are jobs out there to be had. And while I haven't personally made a living out of only contracting I know it can be done and done well if you do it right.

Differentiating yourself from the many contract programmers out there will be hard, and also bidding for projects might also be hard these days with many young wannabe programmers out there undercutting on bids (and overestimating their skills, promising unrealistic product and timelines).

I was luckily able to find a full time position, but it definitely wasn't only due to my knowledge of PHP (In fact I only about 6 months of professional PHP experience on my resume) and it took me a while of looking. Browsing a lot of the resume/job sites openings it's very rare for a listing for a full time, long term PHP programmer these days. This can change with a few larger companies starting to open their doors to PHP and the oncoming PHP 5, however I don't see it being anything drastic.

Take the advice of others, build up your skills and do what you enjoy.

-b

There is money to be made for sure, the factor of how much is determined by you.

About 6 months ago I started with my current employer at $40k, which isn't bad at all since I don't know 14 different languages and I have relatively little experience. It's not $7k a month but I don't have the hassle of bidding and finding my next paycheck. I just do want I want to do.

As for the factor of the undercutters, bidding $2000 - $5000 on a $10,000 -$30,000 job, they indirectly pay my bills. I would like to thank them. When they take these jobs and realized that most B2B clients need highly specialized programming that you will not find in a cut-n-paste script depository on the net, that makes the client look for someone that can deliver, which in turn goes to us.

One day I need to make a list of the 'design firms' that have drove people our way and write them a thank you note.

back to the subject you can make $7k a month doing just about anything if you are driven and resourceful. It takes much time and patience. Some people make a $100,000/yr cutting hair.

if you specialize in php you will most likely be doing contract work for smaller companies. you can make good money if your schedule is full and you get lots of contracts. however, web dev in general isn't what it used to be and i never heard of anyone doing php full time and making a good salary

bigger companies avoid open source and stick to asp, jsp, coldfusion, etc.

but if you have a choice, its wiser to avoid being a webdev specialist in general, and stick to hardcore programming like c++, java, and other languages (i'd say c++ is still the #1 language to learn). in the end it gives you a broader scope. since c++ and java and other software languages are so much more difficult and complicated, if someone sees that you can do c++, they assume you can pick up php in no time (i did). you also get a higher salary for being a software engineer vs. a web dev guy. so you'd be looking at ~$60,000/year for an entry level position.

i got involved in web dev when i was a freshman in college. ever since then i have tried to do something else, but it seems that i've pidgeon holed myself in this. hopefully i will land a job in "real" software soon.

lol "I hate nerds"

You can always do a search on monster or dice.com to see what the jobs are. You will seriously see a range from about 30k all the way up to 180k a year for jobs that list the pay rate.

In the real world it always comes down to what you really know and not the languages. Languages are just tools to get the job done. What makes you money is showing you have done a similar job in the past (which means you will know the issues and will be able to get it done quickly) and some luck.

hm....ic...thank you so much for the replies, they are much appreciated!! i think i will do the following:
1. do what i like n like what i do
2. learn more skills, even juz for fun, perhaps
3. do not work juz for money but for interest
yeah, u guyz indeed gave me alotsa useful suggestions, and make me at least made my mind clearer now, thank you so much!! ^-^

LMM,

thank you for posting the question which brought the other guys' answers. which I found useful.

I also read somewhere that students would change from php to jsp when they get to large projects. so to me, php is a good start point. that way, when I move to jsp, I am already okay with mysql and the overall issues. at least got a good idea generally.

one could also use php for a prototype before the serious coding takes place, etc.

EE

LMM,

Further to my last msg, apparantly the move from php to jsp in 'large' projects are preferred due to the forced use of OOP/components with jsp, which pays off with sizable codes.

EE

I've been coding PHP/MySQL f/t for over 3 years now. I make a salary good enough for myself, wife, and kids.



Not true. There are a *ton* of major companies using PHP. Yahoo! would be the first one that comes to mind, but there are others




I'd agree w/ this, in as much as compiled language development gives you a very solid understanding in how programming works, which could be applied to PHP, Perl, Python, et al.



Thats interesting. The job listings I see on careerbuilder.com and monster.com are a 5:1 ratio, Java vs. C[x] langs.

In fact, the number of Java developers surpassed the number of C[x] developers in only 7 years; seeing as C has been around for 30+ years, that is a significant development.


Whereas some of us wouldn't want to be anywhere else but *in* web applications development.

The idea that PHP is unsuited for large-scale projects is a myth at best, at worst, its FUD. PHP can handle projects just as large as JSP.

In fact, within a very short amount of time, PHP will have an API which will allow PHP to work with Java seemlessly.