Briteskies is a member of the Magento 2 Trained Partner Program! The Briteskies Magento Development Team recently completed the Magento 2 Trained Partner Program. Magento 2, released in Beta in December 2014, has improved framework, high code quality, and is more modular than the original Magento software. Additionally, it runs on a newer PHP, making it much faster.
These improvements required significant changes in the overall structure of Magento, meaning that Magento developers need to be trained on Magento 2 to ensure that they are prepared to offer the highest level of Magento 2 expertise to clients. Derrik Nyomo, Greg Crane, and Navarr Barnier of our Magento Development Team took on the challenge in order to be able to do just that.
This certification is different from those achieved by individual developers. The Magento 2 Trained Partner Program is a group effort requiring two Developers to complete the Fundamentals of Magento Development, and one Front End Developer to complete the Core Principals for Theming in Magento 2.
The Fundamentals of Magento 2 Development class is a 40-hour, on-demand class meant to familiarize Magento developers with key aspects of the Magento 2 architecture. The course has five units, with a sixth on the way. They are:
These units are designed to ensure that developers have learned skills in working with Magento 2 modules and have learned ways to customize Magento to ensure the best upgrade path for the websites extended. Each of the Briteskies developers completed the units on their own, then moved onto the practical activities.
After completing the Fundamentals class, the Briteskies developers got together to take on the “add-on” exercises to demonstrate what they learned, which took approximately another 20 hours. These practical applications involved creating modules in Magento 2 based on concepts shown in the training classes.
As Greg said, “the exercises were similar to what we learned about in the classes but more difficult. That way we could demonstrate that we know what we’re doing.”
Core Principles for Theming in Magento 2 is instructor-led and aims to introduce Magento Front End Developers to the Magento 2 platform. It touches on how the front end has changed and teaches Magento developers how to correctly utilize Magento 2. The course is broken up into three units:
In about nine hours, this course helps developers learn how to customize the look, feel, and functionality of a Magento 2 site at the theme level by learning the fundamentals of Magento 2’s templating system and the components of a theme.
For Navarr, the courses were very educational. After several years’ worth of PHP work and a slow introduction to advanced tactics like dependency injection, the training courses laid out the foundation for these advanced topics very simply.
“I feel like I’ve improved as a developer in general because of this. After these courses it was fairly simple to go in and make my first Magento 2 module,” Navarr said.
Derrik had similar thoughts as well. "The materials were very to-the-point, and the reinforcement exercises really helped solidify the lessons. I would definitely recommend this course to any developer who is interested in Magento 2 development."
Here’s what Greg had to say about his overall experience with the Magento 2 Trained Partner Program:
I have been through a few Magento On Demand classes before this, and I was impressed with the improvements made with these new classes. It was more interactive, with videos of actual code, and I was engaged throughout thanks to questions being asked along the way.
The best learning experience in the class was the capstone exercises that tested everything we had learned throughout the course through code implementation. The exercises were very challenging at times but our team was able to put our heads together and help each other through the process. Doing these exercises, as challenging as they were, really ingrained Magento 2 mechanics into my head.
I can’t wait to start working with Magento 2 on a regular basis. I love how modular they have made the code. The use of dependency injection, plug-ins, and interfaces makes the platform much more extensible, albeit a bit more tricky to learn.
I am excited for the official Magento 2 release later this year, and I can’t wait to work on my first real Magento 2 customer implementation.
Have you explored the Magento 2 training program? What do you think of the experience?
Have a question for our developers? Give us a call.
No Comments Yet
Let us know what you think