Symfony's Lyceum? A look at SensioLabs University

SensioLabs University offers the widest range of training plans on PHP and Symfony, including varied support methods to ensure employee skills development and retention.

That's what their dons say at least.

This article looks at Symfony training brought to you by the team behind Symfony and Twig. SensioLab's name is inspired by the Spanish word “sencillo” or “simple” in English, and it's the company Symfony's founders use to monetize and support the platform. So, it is similar to Automattic or Acquia.

In addition to consulting, cloud hosting, and technical support another of its divisions is SensioLabs University. This "university" offers various ways to attend and the online options are deployed on Symfony Cloud aka PlatformSH. So, as a bonus you can stress test that.

This training option is not cheap (more Harvard than Hillsborough Community College) and is obviously aimed at enterprise-level companies wanting to upskill and retain their development teams. Individuals like me and teams without large training budgets can go the SymfonyCasts route, unless you need very specific training on a niche topic.

SensioLabs University is not a coding bootcamp (and probably no Lyceum) but it does offer four ways to boost your Symfony skillset. Aristotle's school of philosophy didn't offer degrees either.

Onsite SensioLabs University Training

SensioLab's onsite courses are mainly taught in Paris. So, that's a nice getaway. They range from 3 hours to 5 days in length. Obviously, the onsite option is the creme de la creme of options available if you are based in Europe.

Courses

SensioLabs University onsite options are available per individual course and include:

Symfony

• Getting Started with Symfony 7
• Mastering Symfony 7
• Web Development with Symfony 7
• Symfony 7 Certification Online Coaching
• Create an e-commerce shop with Symfony and Sylius (eCommerce)
• Workflow Component
• Messenger Component - beginner
• Messenger Component - intermediate
• HTTP CLIENT Component
• Symfony Notifier component - Create and send notifications

PHP

• Write your first unit tests with PHPUnit
• Advanced and functional tests with Symfony
• Mastering Object Oriented Programming in PHP 8

Tools

• Agile/Scrum Training Session

As you can see, onsite is a great option for upskilling on an as-needed and by-topic basis. And there are courses available for students with both beginner and intermediate Symfony experience.

Remote Training

This section is short and sweet. Remote courses are the same as above except with live video instructors, etc.

So, you can access the goodness no matter the country you are based in.

Ditto on the as-needed and by-topic basis.

eLearning Platform

The eLearning platform is fantastiqué et tres pratigue. I would venture to guess that this option is the most popular one with SensioLabs customers/students.

It is subscription-based with monthly and yearly options. Individuals can subscribe to it via Symfony Connect.

This option is optimal where teams want to customize their training. Also, they can develop their skills acquisition plan with it. And students can test their knowledge retention daily as they progress. These short exams have 20 questions and only take 15 minutes.

Management can monitor all their seats' (individual programmers) performance, etc. via a dashboard. Students have individual dashboards as well to track their success.

The eLearning platform also includes self-training exercises and SymfonyCasts which are worth the effort of watching.

Its advantages include:

• An optimal learning environment
• Start and stop when you want​ (or as dictated by management)
• Anchor your skills at your own pace (ditto)
• Test your skills and follow your progress
• Enjoy direct contact with the Symfony editor
• The best online training experience for PHP and Symfony​

So as I said, it's fantastic and very convenient.

If you are between jobs as a Symfony developer, taking a month or two to progress through the curriculum full-time would be a smart move.

If you are a manager with an agency or corporate shop, this seems to be a great investment in your programming team. It beats "AI tools" and toxic positivity any day.

Certificate Prep

Certifications aim to document your competence and improve your job chances and career long term.

Consequently SensioLabs University offers Symfony Certification preparation. It's via the course listed above -> Symfony 7 Certification Online Coaching. The prep lasts 15 weeks and includes these topics:

• PHP and Web Security / Standardization
• HTTP
• Symfony Architecture
• Controllers
• Routing
• Templating with Twig
• Forms
• Data Validation
• Dependency Injection
• Security
• HTTP Caching
• Console
• Automated Tests
• Miscellaneous Part 1
• Miscellaneous Part 2

So, it's very comprehensive.

Certificates are available from Symfony for:

• Symfony Platform
• Twig Templating
• Sylius eCommerce Platform

The first would apply to SensioLab University's certification prep.

Wrapping it up

They say money talks and bullshit walks.

Well, if you or your team has the money, SensioLabs University will run you across the Symfony mastery finish line.

It has four options for increasing your Symfony skillset. Pick the one that works best for you or your team.

It's a solid investment in your developers and organization in general. And for a well-compensated individual, it may be worth the investment to prepare for even more compensation in their current or upcoming career stage.

So, are you a good student? Are you fortunate enough to have training resources? If that's you, it's time to back to school at SensioLabs University. 👩‍🎓

Allez Tuskers! 🐘

Reuben Walker

Founder
Symfony Station