Interview with Marco Tabini from php|Architect
THere is an online magazine called php|Architect. It is obviously aimed at php developers. I got a chance to aska few questions of Marco Tabini, the mind behind starting the whole thing.
1 - What is the goal and focus of php architect?
php|architect has evolved from a publication dedicated to the PHP world to a media company that now encompasses several areas of PHP knowledge—from books to magazines to training and conferences. Even though we have grown and changed over the years, our goal has not changed: to build the best possible content for PHP developers at all levels. From its inception, php|a has been a publication written by developers, for developers, and practically everyone on our stuff has at least an understanding of how the language works.
2 - Why did you decide to start this magazine and make it online?
We started php|a because we were developers looking for a more advanced set of resources than were commonly available. Publishing it online seemed to be the best solution, given that, although we didn’t dispose of a vast distribution network, our readers would be scattered all over the world.
3 - How do you see what you offer as being something developers would want to subscribe to get as opposed to just finding what they need on the web?
I think that, in general, the type of content that we publish is more advanced than most of the content you find on the Internet, and much more in-depth. A typical feature article on php|a runs anywhere between 4,000 to 6,000 words, giving the author the opportunity to explore the topic he or she is presenting with a level of detail that is difficult to achieve on the Web. A magazine also has the advantage of pushing content to readers, thus making it easier for them to keep up to date with their professional field.
4 - What are your hopes for the future of php architect?
I think that the growth curve of PHP is far for complete—maybe not so much in the number of people who approach it for the first time, but certainly in the average level of proficiency that PHP developers will display. Therefore, I hope that php|architect will be able to play a small role in helping the PHP community grow by challenging its members to learn more and improve their techniques every month.
5 - any other comments you’d like to make?
Thank you for the opportunity to give you my thoughts!