Recommendations for PHP and MySQL Software for a MAC

PHP
1

I am a long-time PC user, asp.net, and sql server programmer. I have two custom built web sites that I use for screenwriting and filmmaking.

A few years ago, I switched to Apple computers and I love the environment. But, I have still been maintaining my web sites on my old PC.

I want to make the switch complete and migrate my web sites to a PHP and MySQL environment.

In the Microsoft world, I used Visual Studio to do my programming. Is there an equivalent in the Apple world? I know there is Dreamweaver, but I had a bad experience there once. Are there other choices?

Thanks a lot,

Chris

2

Not a Mac user here, but most of my friends use Macs.

I think the IDE choice boils down to TextMate, Eclipse, NetBeans and PhpStorm.

Have a look at them and you’ll find one that suits you.

In terms of the server, you can just install Apache/nginx, PHP and MySQL using something like MacPorts.

3

Apache ships with Mac OS X, you just need to activate it, which is quite simple.

You can install mysql quite easily onto your mac as well. Download it from www.mysql.com

check out Kevin Yank’s detailed installation procedure here:
http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/php-amp-mysql-1-installation

As for IDEs, I tried Aptana Studio but I found it a little buggy. There are a lot of better ones out there, but I use Dreamweaver CS3, just because I’m used to it’s short cuts now and I find it quite reliable.

Glad to hear you’ve come over to the light side of the force :wink:

Hope that helps.

4

Thanks for the great suggestions. I will definitely check all those out.

5

I’m just about to move to Mac and Coda looks very interesting.

Cheers,

Jon

6

I looked at Coda and liked what I saw as far as CSS, HTML and JS, but it didn’t seem to be as strong with PHP and MySQL (or maybe I just missed it).

7

Hi there, I use a Mac, would never return to Windows again! Well saying that, I do quite like Windows 7…! I use Coda all the time, amazing program. Just got a lot of small and minor but incredibly useful features. Recommend it completely. Best of luck dude :slight_smile:

8

Oh also…I use MAMP for my developing environment (Macintosh, Apache, MySQL & PHP). Very good indeed. It’s better still if you purchase MAMP Pro. Just need to install it (easily done) and you’re ready to go…!

9

coxdabd, Are you using Coda to do all the PHP and MySQL coding too?

10

Hey dude, yeah I am. I don’t use anything else. I used to swear by Dreamweaver but then discovered Coda, literally can’t stand that program anymore - Coda all the way!

11

I thought I’d drag this post up again…

I splashed out on a Mac and I’ve tried a couple of IDE’s.

Firstly I tried Coda, which was great for HTML/CSS but quite useless for PHP. The biggest problem is that it doesn’t offer code prompts for variables and functions that I have created (which I find useful in preventing typos), and it doesn’t automatically indent where other IDE’s do. If there is a plugin to resolve this I would happily give it another go.

I also tried (and I’m still using) Netbeans, which I like - but the code prompts seem irregular and sometimes slow (compared to Coda). I’ve seen soem potentially useful features in the menus but I’ve been chasing deadlines so I haven’t had chance to play around with that.

I’ve just been reading about Komodo - is it worth the money? It looks pretty good at first glance…

Cheers,

Jon