NYCPHP Meetup

[Chris Shiflett]

--- jon baer <jonbaer at jonbaer.net> wrote:
> yeah but if you look a large majority of jobs *still* call for MS
> .Net/c# and Java which is what i don't get, is there that big of a
> non published defection?

Adam, Dave, and I spoke on a PHP Panel recently for a bunch of CEO and CTO
type people. It was pretty revealing to me, because most of these people
considered themselves to be way ahead of the curve by being interested in
PHP, and it was as if PHP was considered bleeding-edge technology.

I think PHP might be penetrating the enterprise much like Linux did
originally. Instead of people using Linux as a declared platform, it was
simply the tool of choice when the task was to build a Web server, name
server, firewall, mail server, or whatever. I think in the same way, PHP
is used a lot of times when developers are asked to create a Web
application of some sort. The application is the important part;
management doesn't care so much about the tools you use to build it.

Of course, Linux was in the enterprise the whole time, and companies like
Google prospered while using it. The same can be said of places like Yahoo
for PHP. But, the technologically savvy companies are always going to be
making the best choices. What is more interesting, in terms of numbers
alone, is when the non-savvy companies pick up on something. This is where
PHP is just now knocking on the door, and this makes up a very large
percentage of the enterprise. PHP is just getting started. :-)

When it comes time to post job openings and such, I think the management
just throws around words that they have heard. The more savvy companies
have people that know what they're talking about write the job
descriptions, make the job postings, and perform the interviews. I think
these types of places will be in the minority for a long time, so we will
only see PHP dominate job postings once it becomes a word that managers
associate with Web development. It will happen, eventually.

Chris

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