Sometimes people wonder how I got into PHP. Well … it was almost by accident as I never really learned PHP. It has already been three years… !

Not everyone loves this language, but I quickly realized that PHP is much more than a language, it is a community.

Like many languages, PHP has a mascot, the elephpant, and there is a culture around it. People buy them, win them in contests or conferences, exchange them, import them from the other side of the planet … There is even a register of all known elephpants

I have to admit that it is not a cheap collection, but a very funny one.

In my case, as I love handicrafts, the elephpant has been a source of inspiration.

Some years ago I made my first elephpants in crochet which I am giving away this Christmas. It is a way for me to share what I love doing and get in touch with other developers of this beautiful community.

In France, we are lucky to have the AFUP (french PHP users association) that brings together PHP developers to share experiences. Last year, we did our first secret santa, and the idea was to offer a gift that was blue or had an elephant, in tribute to the mascot, and I did this lovely multicolor elephpant in cross stitch

At Forum PHP, the biggest event organized by the AFUP, I had the opportunity to talk about the need to combine features and technical vision. In the two days I’ve been in Paris, I’ve seen many elephpant exchanges ! Conferences are also the moments where the community comes together.

On this occasion, I even won a huge collector elephpant by doing some improvisation on the Karaoke Slideshow.

Elephpants come from all over the world and give visibility to versions, frameworks, companies, events, and even women ! A PHP women elephpant was given to me recently which has an especial meaning for me as there are not many women in tech.

And you, when will you start your elephpant collection ? Feel free to make your own creations, imagination is the only limit !