I often speak on how I’ve been a subscriber of php[architect] since 2005. I absolutely loved that there was a magazine solely for PHP developers. It reminded me of the heydays of MacAddict (before it went downhill) and Macworld (remember, I’m a designer, too). Sure, a lot of the articles and concepts were way over my head, but I kept on and learned as I went. It exposed me to many technologies and techniques I wouldn’t have stumbled across in my (then) limited job as a one-person designer/developer for Maryland Sea Grant. Here again, never would I have thought that I’d be a co-owner and designer for the very same magazine. Two years and twenty-five issues later, I have a great respect for Marco and Arbi for running php[architect] (then, php|architect) for more than five times that.

This month is a personal favorite of mine, as the theme is “Be the Boss”. It speaks to those who wish stop working as an employee and strike out on there own, something I’ve done twice in my life. In Get Off the Freelance Roller Coaster!, Yitzchok Willroth (@coderabbi) talks on the importance of not placing all of your eggs in one basket (or projects with one vendor). In Choose Your Own Adventure—Freelancer or Founder?, Joshua Warren talks about the two avenues that are open to those going it on their own, freelancer or business founder.

January also marks a new column by David Stockton called Leveling Up. This month, he talks about the hows and whys of using a debugger. In Education Station, Matthew Setter talks about Getting More Advanced with the FreeAgent API. In Laravel Tips, Dirk Merkel talks about Non-Destructive Session Renewal. finally{}, Eli White talks on taking the time to implement best practices and how it is similar to Gas Station Bathrooms.