Zend Certified Engineer: PHP5 (ZCE 200-500)

Posted: January 16th, 2009 | Author: Mihai Bojin | Filed under: Certification, General, PHP, Web | Tags: 200-500, cert, Certification, PHP, php architect, php5, phparch, zce, zend, zend certified, zend certified engineer, zend practice tests |

From this day on I can proudly say that I am a PHP5 Zend Certified Engineer.

I took the ZCE 200-500 exam today at a Pearson-Vue authorized testing center, Provision Romania, after registering online, just a business day before.

I have read the Zend PHP5 Certification Study Guide from PHP Architect and I also bought the Practice Exam Pack with 10 questions (I used only 3 tests to prepare). If you want to take the same road as me, I suggest you get the Zend PHP5 Certification Bundle as you’ll save some money in the process.

I have to say I am not an expert in all areas covered by the ZCE exam, but I manage very well in all of them.

The Practice Exam Pack did help me in getting in the state of mind needed for the exam. Also I came across a few things which I would have missed in the real exam, had it not been for a few tricky / theoretical questions.

The problem is that these practice tests are not enough to prepare you for the real exam. I found a few tricky questions including printf parameters and SoapClient / SoapServer usage that were not in the Practice Tests, but I also observed that the XML coverage is emphasized in the PHPArch Practice Tests.

I learned some things I didn’t know in PHP after reading the Study Guide and I recommend reading it as it is a very good book even if you are not preparing for the ZCE exam.

Overall it was not the hardest exam I took and I managed to finish the whole 70 questions (plus review them) in around 1 hour more or less.

I do not know how the ZCE Certification will help my career, but I am happy and proud to be a member of the ZCE Group and I am the 29th certified ZCE in Romania. I am also the second Romanian person to obtain the ZCE in 2009, followed only after a few hours later by Ionut Voda.

If you’re a Romanian from Bucharest, Romania (or just passing by) I strongly recommend Provision Security Training as they were very professional and the process of getting Zend Certified was as simple as possible !

If you have any questions about the ZCE exam or anything PHP related, post them in the comments section and I will try to answer them the best I can !

Good luck if you’re preparing to apply for the ZCE exam !

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26 Comments on “Zend Certified Engineer: PHP5 (ZCE 200-500)”

#1 Wil Sinclair said at 9:20 pm on January 16th, 2009:
Congrats! Now time to start studying for the ZF certification exam.

,Wil
#2 Mihai Bojin said at 10:19 pm on January 16th, 2009:
Thanks ! The ZF exam seems preety advanced at the moment and I only have around 6 months of experience with it.
Anyway it is on my list of priorities !
#3 Lucian Daia said at 5:06 pm on January 20th, 2009:
Felicitari!

Imi pierdusem speranta ca cineva din Romania o sa mai ia certificarea Zend PHP5 prea curand, dar vad ca cel putin 3 ati reusit.

Era si cazul ca firme ca Netbridge si Zitec sa isi certifice angajatii. Cel putin programatorii seniori PHP ar trebui sa obtina certificarea. Poate ca unii considera ca nu e de nivelul lor, insa s-ar putea sa aiba o surpriza mare.

Poate un MySQL acum?
#4 Mihai Bojin said at 6:35 pm on January 20th, 2009:
Exact la asta ma gandeam si eu
Deja invat pentru Mysql Dev-I, dar nu stau prea bine cu timpul.

Multam mult de urari ! Mult succes si tie !
#5 Karthick said at 2:41 pm on January 25th, 2009:
Can you please tell me what is the passing score for ZCE?I heard from my friends that we need to score 70% and above in all the section in order to Pass. Please clarify. Also i am not having much idea about Socket programming in PHP? how was the questions pertaining to that area in ZCE?
#6 Mihai Bojin said at 3:00 pm on January 25th, 2009:
Hi !
The passing score remains private after taking the exam. It’s a pass/fail grade.

I think you are refering to stream programming in PHP… Don’t worry, if you read the study guide you’ll have enough information to cover that area. I think there were 1 or 2 advanced questions in the streams area.

You still have to know how streams work in PHP (file://, http://, https://, ftp:// etc) in order to pass, but if you have working experience with PHP you won’t have a problem!

Good luck at your exam and let me know when you pass !

Cheers,
Mihai
#7 brofun said at 3:33 pm on March 5th, 2009:
congrats!!!!!!
i am refereing php manual for zce..in function & reference part..there r so many..can u help me to finish it..give me ur valuable ideas ..
thk u..
have a nice day
#8 Mihai Bojin said at 3:53 pm on March 5th, 2009:
@brofun I don’t really understand your question?

Are you asking me how I managed to learn all the functions ? Through work and study… can’t really help you more…
#9 brofun said at 4:13 pm on March 5th, 2009:
wht i am asking is …for ex… take Alternative PHP Cache function in php …today i started to study tht function..i browse the net i found out tht they r used for caching the scripts in a compiled state & though increase the performance of the server..with this when i study php manual..apc_add() ..they have given one output..

The above example will output:
string(3) “BAR”
string(3) “BAR”
can u tell me wht is the use of this output …so tht it will be usefull for me..iam using WAMP and in settings php_settings i enabled apc too…i have completed array fn and some more fns..i did not able to understand this apd ,apc and all…if u spend five mins of ur time..it will be help ful to me..
#10 Lucian Daia said at 4:58 pm on March 5th, 2009:
@brofun

I think the answer you are searching for is not an easy one. I suggest you start reading some advanced PHP books. (there are at least two of them that describe APC more than the manual).

However, I doubt that APC will be a decisive chapter in the certification exam. I am not allowed to disclose exam questions or other details, but I can tell you that there are lots of other things you can focus on. The theory for opcode caching if more than enough
#11 Mihai Bojin said at 5:04 pm on March 5th, 2009:
Come to think of it… I didn’t see any APC questions in the exam (I don’t think I’m breaking the TOS by saying what I didn’t see).

I guess you should focus more on the general PHP stuff. The Zend Certification Study Guide is a great resource !
#12 Wil Sinclair said at 8:34 pm on March 5th, 2009:
BTW, we appreciate you’re not disclosing questions from the exam.
#13 Mihai Bojin said at 10:26 pm on March 5th, 2009:
Lol @wil… I agreed to the TOS haven’t I !?
I’m glad that you’re still following my thread. Unfortunately I was very busy in the last month (plus I got married) so I haven’t had time to study for the ZFCE nor Certified MySQL Developer exams, I didn’t find the time to sit down at write something of value in my blog, didn’t have time to finish my Zend_Grid proposal and lot’s of other unaccomplishments

Fortunately I’ll find more time in the following month…

Coming back to the problem at hand, I think that every developer has to find his own way into taking the ZCE exam (or any other exam for that matter).

Cheat sheets make it easier to pass, but also contribute to a higher number in certified developers that actually do not know and do not have the experience to pass the exam(s).

Thanks again and good luck to all that are trying to pass the ZCE or ZFCE exams !
#14 Lucian Daia said at 11:08 pm on March 5th, 2009:
Definitely agree to Mihai. Once we agreed to those terms, it’s up to us to respect them.

I too am interested in contributing to the Zend Framework and will probably submit my proposal in a couple of weeks.

@mihai

I have to make some time for the MSDEV too
#15 brofun said at 5:26 am on March 6th, 2009:
thks Mihai Bojin & Lucian Daia for ur reply.
when i started preparing for my ZCE exam in php manual i completed most of the topics which r under language & reference heading.my friends told me to study all the topics under fuction & reference….when i come to focus on function & reference i started confusing myself … dont know which topics to concentrate.since thre r more thn 180 topics under it..and i started boldly to study on those topics..i finished some of the functions too like array,date&time,mysql…when i sarted learning about these apc,apd…lots of confusion hits me…
so i am asking wht did u concentrate more while going through function & reference…in order to give solutions to my confusions….
#16 brofun said at 5:38 am on March 6th, 2009:
please dont think tht i am asking u to diclose exam questions..am just asking the way to finish the function & reference successfully..

thk u
have a nice day..
#17 Mihai Bojin said at 9:02 am on March 6th, 2009:
I recommend you get the ZCE Study Guide: http://www.amazon.com/architects-Zend-Certification-Study-Guide/dp/0973862149/ which is a valuable resource not only for the exam but for you as a PHP programmer. There are some tips and tricks in this book that you wouldn’t normally know or use (at least this happened for me).

In the study guide you will find all the required curricula explained.

Also you can get an Online Practice Test pack from here: http://www.zend.com/en/store/php-certification/online-practice-testing

It will set you back a couple of bucks, but be sure it’s worth it ! You will get a real sense of the exam and will know if it’s time to go try taking the exam, or you have to study more.
#18 brofun said at 3:13 pm on March 6th, 2009:
after seeing that book i can able to clearly understand about the syllabus for ZCE..
thks for ur timely help..

i heard from ur post tht u got married in the last month..
wish u happy married life..may this marriage brings u both riches and true happiness in ur life..elshaddai bless u..
have a nice day…
#19 Mihai Bojin said at 3:28 pm on March 6th, 2009:
Thank you very much !
Good luck passing the exam and let me know when you do !
#20 pratik said at 9:53 pm on April 12th, 2009:
hi this’s pratik 4m india..i hav decided to start my carrier in php..i read out ur rply on blogs..i knw php prep guide n manual wil help me a lot but i really cnt afford it..my eid is pratiktayade@gmail.com

plz try 2 help me..n wish u a vry hapPy marRiagE liFe…plz try 2 contact on my eid..tc
#21 Jonathan Manaois said at 11:43 am on September 16th, 2009:
Thanks for the post. Soon i will be taking the exam.
#22 brofun said at 8:34 am on December 4th, 2009:
thanks Mihai Bojin & Lucian Daia ….for ur valuable ideas regarding ZCE..
now i have passed the zend certification exam…
#23 Mihai Bojin said at 12:52 am on December 5th, 2009:
Congrats Brofun for pasing the ZCE exam!
#24 Lucian Daia said at 11:52 pm on December 16th, 2009:
Glad to hear that, Brofun!

Good luck on your PHP journey and always remember that this language survives thanks to the fact that people take some time to contribute to it.

When you’ll feel ready, please consider contributing (I’m sure I will - at least to the ZF).
#25 Mihai Bojin said at 8:16 pm on June 23rd, 2010:
I am now ZFCE certified ! I took the Zend 100-500 exam earlier this week and passed ! It was harder than expected and I’m a little curious what I did right and wrong (because they didn’t give me any info other than that I passed). Overall I feel preety happy about it and now I am thinking what do study next… Keep you posted !
#26 Lucian Daia said at 8:25 pm on June 24th, 2010:
Congratulations, Mihai!

Eagerly waiting for the 2.0 release of the ZF, right?