Becoming a professional PHP programmer. How? [closed]

Question

I'm working on my first professional project. The fact is that I don't know which are the best tools to produce something serious (I'm talking about web-develop through PHP):

• Are template engine like Smarty mandatory? Which one is "the best" (the most used, complete, documentated)
• At the moment I'm developing on Notepad++ (mostly because I find it useful and complete) is there a better development tool? Or is just a matter of personal taste?
• At the moment I'm studying JQuery and deepening my knowledge as regards CSS what other "mandatory" subjects can you suggest me?

This is what I can think of at the moment, have you any other suggestions? Thank you.

EDIT: As someone made me notice the question is a bit ambiguous. I know the basics (HTTP protocol, Java Script, CSS, HTML, OOP theory and practice etc...). I'm studying computer science at the University (and the project I'm speaking of is my thesis). I need advise on how the "real world" works (outside my basement).

Answer 1

Don't focus on becoming a Professional PHP Programmer. Focus on becoming a professional web developer, and check out the What should a developer know before building a public web site? question.

Saying "I want to become a Professional PHP Programmer" is like saying "I want to be a professional painter" when you actually mean "I want to be a professional artist." Sure, at the end of the day both might paint and get paid for it, but what their customers expect of them is very different ;)

Answer 2

Specifically for PHP I'd recommend:

Learn a good framework. Depending on the size of the project, you can use Zend/Symfony or CodeIgniter/others for small ones. There are tons. I'd stick to Zend/Zymfony for something mid-sized and/or "real world".

In general these frameworks come with a basic template engine or you can plug in other ones like Smarty or Twig. I'd say it improves the code a lot. So, yes to your first question.

Also, notepad++ is amazing, but I recommend using an IDE if you're working on a project and not a simple 2,3 file script. I strongly recommend Netbeans. It has lots of teatures and it's really active. Check it out: http://netbeans.org/features/php/

Since you're coding in PHP, I'd say you get to know the SPL (Standard PHP Library): http://php.net/manual/en/book.spl.php

To sum up:

Strongly recommended to keep code clean and mainteinable.

Yes.Netbeans.

Yes. SPL, and a lot more I can't think of now.