I am a Java guy. I like Java, thats why I also did the certifications (SCJP,SCWCD,SCBCD,SCJD) there. To prove that I like it :-)

I today considered making the Zend Certified Engineer exam as well. I think PHP has a spot in mobile applications through its large community and its maturity. There are some other languages and web frameworks out there, but I think PHP is a solid pick. In combination with the symfony framework it can fill its space, where Java cannot extend to (perhaps they will try with all that scripting additions).

But the Zend shop is interesting. I was logged into the global one. I got all the prices in US-Dollar. And the price of the exam was: 125$. I was curious what the price in Euro would be, because, you know, Dollar is quite weak at the moment. I switch to the German store…. wow: 150 Euro.
Some maths: 125 USD are about 80 Euro. 150 Euro are about 235 USD. Wow! Thats nearly 50% off in Dollar compared to Euro.

So I did order now in America. Paying USD. Got the exam code instantly. An interesting side fact is that the invoice comes from a German company….