PHP is a server side programming language, which is the most widely used language in this modern era. One of the biggest reasons of its popularity is the fact that PHP is an open-source programming language, and it does not cost a fortune to establish a development environment. Therefore companies and freelance PHP developers are raking in huge sum of money through developing dynamic and feature rich web based applications for clients worldwide.

PHP works along with the usual HTML and CSS to create the front end of the website, PHP is used only to perform the server side scripting and run the dynamic functions of the website, while the graphical presentation of the website or web application comes from the HTML and CSS. Some other languages like, JavaScript, Ajax, Flash are also very important to know for a PHP developer as they play a vital role in building a complete web application. Therefore it is critical for a PHP developer to have hands-on experience of building applications using all of these languages and technologies.

More qualities that a Seasoned PHP Developer must possess:

Knowledge of SEO – the PHP programmer must know at least the basics of SEO to ensure that the websites they built using PHP is according to the standards of major search engines.

Website Maintenance – It is seen that many developers are unable to perform maintenance operations on the website due to the lack of knowledge and understanding. This may cause serious conflicts if the server maintenance professional is unable to understand the code written by the developer. Therefore it can be highly effective to have a developer who knows the server maintenance as well.

Strong Communication Skill – A good developer should not only be good at writing codes and solving problems, but he should be good at communicating with the fellow team players as well. It is essential for a developer to be able to convey his idea clearly to both the client and upper management.  Developers that are weak in communication tend to have far more problems as there is always a communication gap between developer and project manager or any other supervisor, which eventually results in delay or project failures.

Professionalism: Professionalism is important in almost all the careers. Casual and careless attitude of a developer will not only destroy company`s reputation but will ensure that the projects are completed with lots of “fill in the blanks”. Having a highly professional PHP developer will ensure that all the project details are well documented and the application is well planned to tackle any of the future bugs that may occur.

Ever Growing – This is perhaps the most important trait that must be present in a quality PHP developer. The development world is ever growing and changing, a developer should be able to adapt to the latest technologies and master them to incorporate in the applications. A good developer who does not want to learn new stuff will eventually fall behind the market, and will take the company down with him.

Before hiring a full-time, or a freelance PHP developer, do keep the above mentioned points in mind to ensure that you get the best resource on board for your project.