Having checked a few job sites (such as Creative Pool and The Drum) recently, I've become increasingly aware that a key skill required for industry which I don't have is an understanding of PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor 5. This has also become clear when working with a CMS (Content Management System) on a recent project. An understanding of PHP will enable me to develop and customise web applications when needed. This could prove crucial in future employment.
It is also apparent from job advertisements, as well as some limited experience with the web design industry (e.g. through my brother-in-law, Paul), that employees/freelance workers are expected to have to massive range of skills. They are expected to be able to design, build and develop websites, not just specialise in one area. I feel that I need to continue my study into the development side of things beyond what I'm comfortable with currently (XHTML & CSS).
PHP is a massively popular scripting language and it has the power to open up opportunities to create a myriad of web applications (Hotscripts has many examples). These are the kinds of things that at the current time I have no idea how to create. I also feel that websites are increasingly adopting PHP scripts in order to bring a bit of interactivity to the site - and at the moment I feel I simply can't compete with this. In order to combat my lack of knowledge, undertaking the study of PHP in the SMLP seems a smart thing to do.
Whilst I had considered developing other skills, including Javascript and Ruby On Rails, I decided against this as I feel Javascript is becoming less relevant online, and that PHP is a better starting point than Ruby is. This, however, is something I will be very interested in for the future.
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