best IDE for php

**elvirs** · Jan 12, 2007, 03:35

hi,
i am just starting to play with php and need a good IDE for php beginner.
okay, most hackers may be happy with notepad but i would like to make use of advances and easiness offered by lates technologies

the one like dreamweaver is for css or even better:9 if there is any.
heared a little about zend, eclipse and other but wanted to consult to php gurus at sitepoint

thanks

**earl-grey** · Jan 12, 2007, 04:29

Used Zend a bit, it worked fairly well. Haven't really used Eclipse, but many people have good impressions about it.

Also, you can try some of the advanced editors: Crimson Editor, syn and gvim.

There is a thread about various text editors.

**MelkorBauglir** · Jan 12, 2007, 04:59

I use vim and Eclipse. Zend Studio is very good but terrible slow.
I would prefer vim (not gvim) - Cheap but good

**Ize** · Jan 12, 2007, 05:29

If you already use Dreamweaver, you should use that too for PHP. Its autocompletion and syntax coloring functions are pretty good

I personally just started using PHPEclipse. It has quite a steep learning curve, but it's a very complete editor with lots of features. I especially like the way the software is adapting to custom written classes and functions and how it can display tooltip information about, for example, what arguments your function expects.

**Lambda** · Jan 12, 2007, 05:41

I use notpad.. lol :P

**elvirs** · Jan 12, 2007, 19:36

Lambda, one day i will use notepad too

for a super coder its great tool.
but for now i need to learn php, dreamweaver helped me with css and i think the ides guys here suggested will help with php.
thank you all guys

**devbanana** · Jan 12, 2007, 19:48

I love Eclipse. Been using it for a while now.

I hear Zend Studio has pretty much the same features, but I wouldn't know.

**ScubaDvr2** · Jan 12, 2007, 20:09

I use editplus (editplus.com). It's not quite as advanced as something like Zend or Dreamweaver, but it is very handy. It has color coding syntax for a lot of languages plus ftp control, and with it's internal browser if you are linked to your server you can view your changes without ever leaving the program. It also recognizes 99% of php's built-in functions, but it doesn't have auto-complete.

**Procode** · Jan 12, 2007, 21:01

I use Zend and it works great for me.

**Aes** · Jan 12, 2007, 22:35

I too do about 99% of my coding in Zend Studio. The pricetag is the only downside I can think of, but I believe you can get the standard edition (I haven't really found a need for the professional version, personally) for about $99, USD.

Of course I first began coding PHP in simple text editors like notepad, and did so for a couple of years. If you're just starting out, that is the route I would recommend. ^-^

**naphets66** · Jan 12, 2007, 23:47

I had Zend. I found Eclipse. It pissed me off a lot at first, but now I am used to it and like it a lot better.

**Dan Grossman** · Jan 12, 2007, 23:53

My PHP Development Environment.

**php_daemon** · Jan 13, 2007, 04:04

Originally Posted by elvirs

Lambda, one day i will use notepad too

for a super coder its great tool.

No, you won't. It's like saying I drive Ferrari, but I'll drive an old Dodge when I'm more experienced. Why on earth would you wanna do that?

**Brian-X** · Jan 13, 2007, 09:07

I do my php scripting in Crimson Editor and CSS stylesheets in Dreamweaver. That works out best for me !

**earl-grey** · Jan 13, 2007, 10:03

Originally Posted by Brian-X

I do my php scripting in Crimson Editor and CSS stylesheets in Dreamweaver. That works out best for me !

Crimson Editor is handy. Using gvim now, though.

**stadskle** · Jan 13, 2007, 10:29

I use Zend too, and I'm very happy about it. The professional version is very handy if you're programming web services, otherwise I'd go for the standard.

**TheRedDevil** · Jan 13, 2007, 10:35

I am using mostly Zend, due to the diagnostics tools its delivered with.

Sure the software has its flaws, but the diagnostic part make up for it ten folds. Beeing able to follow the flow as the script is run on your server, watch and even change the variables on the fly at the same time. Well, for me that is worth several times the price of the software (To get the advance diagnostic features, I think you need the professional edition). I can honestly say that Zend has helped me make more money, since I am able to test the scripts more thoughtly in less time than before. Leaving me with more time to work on other projects.

With the help of the diagnostic tools, I can find and solve a specific issue in a script which consists of several files and a few thousand lines in less than a hour. Gone are the days where I used echo statements, file writes etc while trying to solve a issue.

Personally I think Zend is flawed in the search/replace part, as well as in the color syntax. But if I ever need to do any major search/replacing I just power up my old editor EditPlus2.

Edit:
Just thought I would add that I have never found Zend to be slow, I am running it on a workstation though so that might be why.

**Aes** · Jan 13, 2007, 11:12

Meh, Zend's plenty zippy on both my work and home machines. At work I'm running 5.2 and at home 5.5, and both seem perfectly fine.

I've never really found it's search/replace features lacking; but I do agree with RedDevil's views on the diagnostic tools. They're nice. ^-^

**kyberfabrikken** · Jan 13, 2007, 12:44

I never liked big, integrated IDE's, because it can be hard to figure out what is actually going on beneath the surface. I use a texteditor called textpad and a local installation of Apache, with PHP on it. If I need to work directly on a live site, I'll use webdrive, which maps an ftp-account to a virtual drive. That way, I don't need a separate ftp-agent and manually transfer files.
I have the PHP-manual as a windows helpfile mapped to a key-combination in the editor, so I can get instant documentation on any function. I also use xdebug + wincachegrind a lot.

I don't get why some people would use notepad for anything, when there are plenty of free texteditors around. Have you ever tried editing something and selecting the undo function in notepad? Totally unpredictable.

**chrisdpucci** · Jan 13, 2007, 13:20

Dreamweaver 8 is what I use. I really like it, but I've been using DW for a long time so its definitely what I'm most comfortable with.

**earl-grey** · Jan 13, 2007, 13:33

Originally Posted by kyberfabrikken

If I need to work directly on a live site, I'll use webdrive, which maps an ftp-account to a virtual drive.

Handy tool; I use an older version, called NetDrive, which is freeware but doesn't support SSH.

**elvirs** · Jan 13, 2007, 21:58

php_daemon, why are you driving dodge if you can get ferrari for $99

?

from the replies i think i am gonna stick with zend studio but also give a try to eclipse with php plugin. thank you to everyone.

**elvirs** · Jan 13, 2007, 22:04

kyberfabrikken, is webdrive something that allows me to edit the code of scripts on servers without a need to download them with my ftp clint, edit in dreamweaver and then upload back to server?
it does all this on the fly right?

**kyberfabrikken** · Jan 14, 2007, 02:37

Originally Posted by elvirs

kyberfabrikken, is webdrive something that allows me to edit the code of scripts on servers without a need to download them with my ftp clint, edit in dreamweaver and then upload back to server?
it does all this on the fly right?

Yep. It maps an ftp-account to a virtual disk-drive. That way there's no difference between working on a local drive, and an ftp-account.

**Alluvian** · Feb 2, 2007, 13:02

Late to the party here, but I am a total newb, and would like to have the following:

Ability to set a local root directory so that I can write my .css and .html to use "/images/bg2.jpg". I recently downloaded php designer 2007 pro and setup a project in "C:\websites\<website name>\". I am doing all my file refences as absolute so that the whole thing does not break if I move a file later on. Anytime I try to do something like <img src="/images/pict.jpg"> the stupid thing gives me a broken link in the preview because it is looking for "c:\images\pict.jpg" GAH. It is a $60 piece of software and it can't understand that the root is not my c drive for this project???
Ability to have external .css file that is read properly in the preview. Similar problem to above. I can't properly include external .css sheets in my current tools because I cannot properly define where their directory is from the root level.
Ability to debug php.
Would LOVE to have it connect to my mysql databases and be able to read them when doing a local preview. Again though, I want to use "localhost" in my code in case I ever move the site, but I wan't the editor to understand that when I am previewing this on my local drive that I wan't localhost to be intrepreted as my online domain name instead.
forums where installation and setup questions are actually answered

Supposedly php designer 2007 can do all this, but I picked up the 14 day trial version about 10 days ago. I signed up for their forums 8 days ago so I could ask how to properly set it up and the forum admin has to approve my username which he still has not. My trial will expire before I can even get on the forums. The forums themselves even have the question I want to ask on them, but nobody has bothered to answer the poor people. Those questions were put up weeks ago.

I guess he just doesn't like money. I don't see why anyone would pay money for that kind of total lack of support.

Very rantish, my apologies. So frustrating.

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