Hi, I’m Matthew, though everyone calls me Matt. I’ve been developing with PHP since a chance encounter in 1999, one which I’ll always be grateful for.

Since that time, I’ve written plain vanilla PHP, object-oriented PHP, and anything and everything in between. I’ve created my own CMS and as a result learned both why that can be a good thing, as well as a not so good thing.

As a result of that experience, I sought out frameworks to ease the load of repetitive work which underpins every application. Work which includes forms, output escaping, routing, dispatching and so on.

Starting with Zend Framework 1, then to Zend Framework 2, and most recently to Zend Framework 3, along with a number of other frameworks, such as Symfony. It’s been an interesting journey over the years, one which it might seem from what I’ve written so far was one which was purely technical.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Whilst the technical aspect definitely makes up a large component, without the human aspect, I’d never have stayed with it for the years which I have.

And that’s why I want to share with you that for me, the most important aspect of PHP has been the community of wonderful, caring, sharing, and highly educated people I’ve had the pleasure or knowing.

MY Journey In A NuTshell

It started with the amazing bunch I first met in London, when I worked at iBuildings (you know who you are). Then there were the people who I’ve met by attending a range of conferences, including PHP UK Conference, in London, and PHP South Coast in Portsmouth.

Then there’s all those who I’ve met on IRC, Twitter, email, Slack, and all the other mediums which we all use on a daily basis. Then there’s the wonderful opportunity I had just recently to be a conference speaker, speaking for the first time at PHP World in Washington D.C.

I know this likely sounds like I’m bragging, and that’s something which goes against the grain of who I am. I’m honestly not meaning it that way. This is an honest reflection of the journey I’ve had over the years – thanks to PHP.

I Encourage You to Get Involved

Given the good fortune I’ve had in my own life, I want to encourage you, if you aren’t too involved in the community, to start getting involved. It needn’t be in big ways.

Because sometimes going from no involvement to being totally involved, like my mate @developerjack, is a big step. And it is. But it can be done. Here’s how. Take little steps. If you’re not involved in any way, then start with something little.

Not Sure How?

If you’re stuck for examples, start by becoming a regular at your local user group. Don’t have a local user group? Then how about starting one?

Now that might seem a bit daunting – and to be fair it’s something I’ve not done myself.

But from what I hear, all you need to get started is to know at least four other people, and then hang out on a regular basis, talking about PHP. At least that’s what Cal Evans (and others) say.

Really, that’s all it takes!

If you do have a local user group, and you’re already a member, the next step is to start blogging. This is something I’ve done for the last four or more years, and really enjoy.

I admit I’ve not always done it on a regular basis. But then it doesn’t need to be something regular. You can do it whenever you have something to say, something to share, and most of all, have the time.

Why Blog? Because you have the opportunity to share what you’ve learned, whether recently or over the years, with others. In doing so, you have the opportunity to help them to help themselves, just as others gave you that opportunity.

Already Blogging? What about public speaking? It needn’t be at a conference as a speaker, though all it takes to get started is to submit a CFP.

You could start by sharing what you know in a lightning talk at your local user group, or in the virtual user group NomadPHP. They’re always looking for enthusiastic developers to share what they know.

Anyway, I think I’ve gone on too long, and pressed my point far enough. Whatever your experience level, whether you’re an introvert or an extravert, or anywhere in the middle, please consider getting involved in the community, or increasing your involvement.

It’s the community which makes us all special. It’s the community which helps us grow and be better developers. It’s the community which makes what we do worthwhile. So please consider being involved in any way you can. It will give you back far more than you give it.

People always wonder why we are doing the things we do in these open source communities, especially here in the PHP community. I even ask myself, “Why am I contributing my time for others?”.

What is the true meaning of Christmas? While there are many other meanings, here is one of my favorites:

“to give up one’s very self — to think only of others — how to bring the greatest happiness to others — that is the true meaning of Christmas”[1]

This can be compared to the PHP community. Most of us are here because we are giving back. We are here to give to others and do selfless acts to make the community a better place. We are here to bring happiness to others.

As an organizer of a PHP meetup and PHP conference, I do this for the purpose of giving back to the community for being so great to me.

What makes the PHP community so special? Why did I choose to be in it?

I first got into the PHP community since I was teaching PHP courses and wanted to increase my knowledge. This is how I found the meetup. The rest is history.

The community will always have a special place in my heart. I have seen so much positivity and greatness from everyone. Each person empowers each other. Each person tells each other what their strengths are and the good things they see in each other.

The PHP community has helped me find greatness in myself.

This is the spirit of Christmas. This is the spirit of the PHP community.

Let’s keep spreading the greatness and happiness to others. Thank you to each and every contributor that allows the PHP community flourish.

1. The American magazine, vol. 28 (1889), p. 742.

December is drawing closer.

Thanksgiving marks in the US the beginning of the festive season that a lot of the members of the PHP-Community are celebrating in December. It’s the time of darkness but also of the warm lights. And – most important – it’s the time to gather the family and to celebrate.

Not everyone in the PHP-Community celebrates Christmas. Not everyone is from the US, not even from the Northern Hemisphere. The Community around this strange Web-Programming Language PHP is as diverse as the things you can do with the language. We are thousands of people of different cultural background, different gender, different knowledge, different continent, different timezone. Not two of us are the same. And yet we are all bound together by the use of that one language. Be it by using Drupal, Zend Framework, WordPress, Symfony, Joomla, Typo3, Magento or whatever else there might be out there, we are all using – PHP

We are one large distributed PHP-Family.

And as in every family there are differences and there is potential for conflicts. And there are times where we don’t talk to each other. But in the end we somehow manage to at least get along with one another. And the knowledge that we will get along with one another in the end and the knowledge that we all want to achieve awesome things binds us together. And as in every family we can achieve even greater things together.

During the first 24 Days in December we’ll have a post each day from different members of the community. Some are well known, others might be new to you but they all have a message to tell how awesome this PHP-Community is. And why this Community is so important to everyone involved with PHP.

So let’s take a moments time and see what the next 24 Days will bring us.