Interview - Kevin Yank of SitePoint.com

The Future

SP: Back to programming, where do you go when you need help in programming?

Writing book reviews as part of my work has seen me blessed with an extensive reference library to draw on, so that definitely helps. Failing that, I tend to browse the support forums, newsgroups, and other online resources just like anybody else. When I'm really stuck and can afford to drop a few bucks for a quick answer, I've found HotDispatch.com to be an excellent place to turn.

SP: What do you see as major hurdles for PHP to overcome in the next 5 years?

PHP is entering a big growth phase due to the surge in popularity it saw with the release of PHP 4.0. Suddenly every man and his dog is a PHP coder, and has an idea about how to make PHP better. PHP's biggest challenge will be to avoid the creeping featurism that comes with this popularity.

The PHP development team will need to work hard to keep PHP simple and easy to learn, or risk losing what has made PHP popular and useful to begin with.

SP: What advice would you give young programmers trying to forge a career for themselves?

Practice, practice, practice. So many budding developers whine that they can't get work because everyone wants experience. Well just as an artist can't expect his first painting to be a lucrative, commissioned work, a programmer must build a few projects purely for the sake of gaining experience before he or she can expect to be hired.

Before my first paid programming gig (writing an LDAP directory import module in Java for Gemplus), I wrote a number of little programs for my own use. My earliest GUI program was a wrapper for a command-line music (MOD) file player. Then I wrote my first flat-file database for an email tagline manager. Deciding I needed to learn a little cryptography, I wrote a personal diary program that used a Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) compliant library to protect the contents of diary entries.

For Web development, it's even easier! There are always not-for-profit organizations, friends of friends, and other acquaintances in need of Websites who don't have the money to spend on a professional designer/developer. And if all else fails, you can just build the fanciest personal Website you know how.

The name of the game is to stay busy. Trade your services for free software, hosting, or whatever you can, but even if you have to work for nothing, remember that the real value of this early work is to build a portfolio for yourself. Next thing you know, you'll be able to walk into an interview with 2 years' experience under your belt.

SP: Finally, inquiring minds have to know... what do you think about the current state of the Danish dairy market in relation to the rise in number of global PHP users?

The hordes of PHP-coding Danish cows, who no longer need to produce milk to survive weigh heavily on my conscience every day. But it's better than having them turn to a life of cyber crime! I say let's all drink soy and be merry!