Tuesday, June 7. 2005

June 8th, 2005 marks the 10th anniversary of the first release of PHP.

I'll admit, I haven' t been around since the very beginning. After all, I was only 14 when PHP/FI was first released. It didn't take me long through -- by the time I was 16 I was sitting in a University of Michigan dorm room playing with it. I was turned on to it while attending one of the best geek camps in the country by a friend of mine and he got me started writing my first PHP scripts.There have been two points in my life which have drastically affected my professional career and in turn my life -- the first was my very first "Hello World!" application written in GWBasic, and the second was my first PHP script.

Back then I didn't know who Rasmus was, I didn't think about the internals community, and I didn't even give a thought to the countless hours they had all put into the project without asking for a dime. All these years later many of those same people are still here, donating their time and talents, and I'm happy to be one of them today. I know that Rasmus et. all tend to be very humble about their accomplishment, but I want to take a moment and share with you all the way this small little project called Personal Home Page Tools that he has continued to nurture and grow has changed my life.

If it wasn't for PHP I wouldn't have ever become a writer and realized how much I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others. I started writing after being approached by someone who noticed me on the PHP Generals mailing list answering questions. Even my first article is still valuable to others starting off in PHP (I was asked not days ago for reproduction permission) and from that has spawned countless more articles and books both online and in print. When people read my materials and learn something it means I've done something to make someone's life better, maybe just a little easier, and I have this project to thank for that opportunity.

If it wasn't for PHP I wouldn't have had the opportunity to learn from so many amazing people that I've learned so much from over the years. PHP has brought the education I received in college to life, given me a playground to apply it, and provided me with some of the most brilliant minds I've ever known to help me along the way. From this project I have made some great friends, had some absolutely great times, and without a doubt became more aware of the world I live in than I ever would have without it. Thanks to PHP I have gone from a small town of a thousand people on the coast of Michigan to having the opportunity to travel to one end of the globe to the other. You can't put into words the way experiences like that make you better as a person, and if it wasn't for this project I know I would have never had them.

If it wasn't for PHP I wouldn't be were I was today as a professional. This is pretty obvious with me now working for Zend, but I can't imagine that I could be doing much better for myself than I am today at the ripe old age of 24. This project has given me an opportunity to excel in ways that I could never have done in any other situation and the impact that is going to have on the rest of my life is simply unmeasurable.

Zak asked in his posting if anyone ever realized early on, or even today, the type of impact this project has had on people's lives. I doubt anyone knew what they were signing up for when this started, I sure didn't, but I think if you take a look around today the impact it's had is clear. So to Rasmus and the other PHP internals developers (their families as well who had to put up with their obsession!) please accept a humble thank you -- I am honored to be a part of this small piece of history and to call you my friends. Know that what you started has indeed changed lives for the better and a happy 10th anniversary to everyone.