LAMP >= J2EE??? ( More mullah in PHP or Java)

ballooba

I am looking at jobs at the moment. I had been looking at J2EE jobs exclusively but then applied for a PHP job by accident. I am interviewing this week for it.

I never used PHP in college but have used it on commercial web design projects outside of college.

This got me thinking and I looked at salaries on IrishJobs.ie and it seems there is better money for PHP developers???

My end goal is to become a Business Analyst. I presume PHP developers can become BAs just as easily as J2EE developers?

damnyanks

Not as easily I'd imagine. Php currently is very limited and really remains in the web development side of things. Web app's dont really get too advanced and if they do chances are some form of J2EE or .Net will be used.

Repli

I spent my entire work placement doing php/ms sql work, it is very easy to pick up because I never touched php in my course (DT228)

homeOwner

ballooba wrote:

My end goal is to become a Business Analyst. I presume PHP developers can become BAs just as easily as J2EE developers?

It has been my experience that BAs are usually from BComm backgrounds or have a Comp Sci degree but ended up in a BA role almost immediately after college. Good J2EE developers are hard to come by and if you are any good at it, chances are you will get pigeon holded into this role.

I dont really see how J2EE developement will help you become a BA. BAs have no technical input on any of the projects I have worked on. At most, they might be involved in some of the object modelling and help with the use cases but their expertise lies purely on the business side of things.

Civilian_Target

As has been said already, PHP is really a limited web application language. Sure, you can do some simple/medium level web apps with it quite easily, and its DB integration is superb, but its quite limited, J2EE will be a better choice in the long run, you'll never get a raise on PHP.

That said, J2EE is also very technical, is you start off in this field you've no more hope of becoming a BA then you did using PHP. If you want to become a BA, you want to have done either a course in business, or an anaylitical degree, such as Maths or Physics.

ballooba

Well i would have thought that the developers would have a pretty good understanding of the business rules in place in an organisation because they are coding to those rules?

If they understand the processes then they would be well equipped to define and improve those processes?

In J2EE interviews I have done I mentioned that my end goal was to get into Project Management / Business Analysis / Professional Services. They all suggested that this was a good route into that area.

Perhaps I am being misled. At the moment I work in QA which should also lead into a BA role but it's quite head wrecking,.

homeOwner

ballooba wrote:

Well i would have thought that the developers would have a pretty good understanding of the business rules in place in an organisation because they are coding to those rules?

Not necessarily. Yes you can learn quite alot but not at the same level as someone whos primary area is knowing the business. Programming business logic does not give you the skills or the overall knowledge required to come up with those rules. BAs go through a lengthy process that may involve workshops, story boarding, requirement sessions to come up with the end rules. Each decision is based on alot more than the final rule.

ballooba wrote:

If they understand the processes then they would be well equipped to define and improve those processes?

BAs in general dont define work processes (if that is what you are referring to). J2EE programmers know little about the processes that were used to come up with the requirments and have little to do with defining processes. Maybe you are talking about different processes.

ballooba wrote:

In J2EE interviews I have done I mentioned that my end goal was to get into Project Management / Business Analysis / Professional Services. They all suggested that this was a good route into that area.

Perhaps I am being misled. At the moment I work in QA which should also lead into a BA role but it's quite head wrecking,.

I believe you are being misled.
Project Management / Business Analysis / Professional Services are three completely different careers. If I were interviewing you and you said that to me I would assume you did not know what you were talking about.

The best thing you could do for yourself is to learn about the business side of what you are QAing at the moment. Then when you have enough knowledge, try to get a BA role in that business area in the same company or another company.

Good BAs while they may specialise in one particular business area (insurance, banking, retail, telecoms....) are usually able to adapt to any business.

Good luck.

damnyanks

Nothing really leads into it. I'm doing project management while on my internship. It's all about how you sell yourself. Ok you want to be a BA , can't offer a great amount of info for that.

But for PM when in an interview show that you really do have good communication and time keeping skills. I'm in an area of IT and finance I didn't understand as much as other areas but have just finished my first major project on time and on budget.

Wasn't <edit>too</edit> micky mouse either , had visibility from the cto