PHP Editors

[susapra]

What programs does everyone use?

Do you use stuff like Dreamweaver and Frontpage or go with simpler methods like notepad, notpad++ ect?

also is this more a matter of preference on what to use can they all do the same things?

 

[wendallb]

I use alley code, it does html,php,java and css and its free...

 

[Rebentrost]

For PHP, the only editor you need it Notepad++.

 

[MaskedSuperstar]

I use notepad and wordpad, their free!

 

[bbowers]

second the Notepad++. I used to use TextPad, but I found NotePad++ to handle the language markup much better. The highlighting of the bracketed sets really helps you catch mistakes(not that I make any ).

 

[Acs]

Im a new fan of Notepad++. I had been a user of PSPad but a few quirks like loosing £ sometimes and missing } every now and then in a file which had been fine for ages made me switch.

 

[maka1]

Hello! You know I prefer Notepad++ or Dreamweaver. :unsure:

 

[aackley]

Within the PHP Tools section you'll find a growing list of PHP editors, PHP modules and add-ons, PHP support applications, PHP template modules, and more for PHP programming and code.

 

[eugen]

1. Zend Studio
2. PHPEditor
3. I think there is a software called PHPDesigner

 

[BlueBoden]

Maybe this is more like lack of time to test better editors, nevertheless it sure gets the job done.

Brugbart which is my main project, was designed using notepad in windows, and the new site has almost entirely been designed in notepad++, i prefer hand coding above WYSIWYG, as it gives me more control, as well as almost ensures correct usage of elements and attributes, i would recommend hand coding to everyone.

Finally i don't find hand-coding to be any slower then using WYSIWYG, and i assume that there wont be much of a differance.

 

[daani]

Hi

PHP IDE/Editors

The text editors I mentioned (and others I didn't) are great -- I don't want to start a pointless war over which editor is better. However, no text editor really gives you much insight into your PHP code. In particular, none views a PHP project as more than a directory of files. Let me take you into the world of IDEs, show what you can -- or should -- expect from them, and provide seven examples from the most popular IDE options.

1. Eclipse
2. Komodo
3. PHP Designer
4. PhpED
5. PHPEdit
6. Zend Studio
7. Adobe Dreamweaver

 

[Pidea]

After many years using the phpDesigner package (which used to be free but which I think now is paid) I've just bought the NuSphere phpIDE.

Having played with the 30 day free trial I was absolutely blown away but one really important but often overlooked feature. There's a built-in debugger AND a profiler.

These allow you to step through your code a line at a time to track down the source of any errors and allow you to test your code to see which functions, database calls etc are slowing down the code.

All you need to do to use it to grab the trial version from here:

NuSphere PhpED. The Complete PHP IDE for PHP developers :: Download.

install MySQL from here:

MySQL :: MySQL 5.1 Downloads — Generally Available (GA) release for production use

and you're away.

I've recently worked on a project where my host kept banning my account because of the load I was putting on the server. Profiling the code and optimising some of my functions resulted in the front page loading in just .5 seconds compared to 3.5 seconds. My host hasn't banned the site since and it's coping with more than double the traffic too.

The downside ? It's not free but they are very flexible on price. After my trial copy expired they emailed me to see why I hadn't bought the software, and arranged a very good discount so I got my copy for just over £100.

 

[surreypcsupport]

I'm the same as I come from a software development background. I use the editor in dreamweaver and only use WYSIWYG to create code quickly if I'm creating tables or whatever - then edit them as I need to.

btw - from my experience with WYSIWYG editors you often DGWYS - don't get what you see.

 

[SiteSmart]

I'm an Eclipse fan as I came over from Java engineering. It's pretty heavyweight but still provides tons of great features and plug-ins for PHP.

 

[ariyes1]

I have been programming PHP and MySQL for about 3 or 4 years now, and my favourite program is DreamWeaver. I remember we learnt using it at school, as me teacher didn't know how to code by hand in NotePad.

 

[satnavdevice]

My choice is 'Dreamweaver' and 'Aptana'

 

[Mckee]

for all application software, because there are no different in application because the code is all the same.....

 

[overscan]

Dreamweaver is okay to start with but navigation becomes quite painful as your projects grow as there is no function or class list (not sure about current version though). I switched to Nusphere PhpEd and have never looked back.

 

[kieransimkin]

Pretty much all of the hardcore developers I know (myself included) use Vim in some form or other. I personally run Vim in a shell session on one of my FreeBSD servers. Other guys I know who feel more at home in Windows run gVim. Either way you get beautiful syntax highlighting and a host of very quick keyboard shortcuts. Put it this way - if you're using the mouse in Vim, you're doing it wrong. Vim is often described as a tool, its use must be learned - don't expect to open it up and be able to use it straight away. However, once you have learned it; you will find that you can do in three keypresses what would take you half an hour in another editor.

 

[craftyclicks]

I use Notepad++ for most quick edits - I like the default colours.

For more intense coding I go with Eclipse. There is a free Zend plugin that can be installed on Apache that allows source level debugging. Very very useful when tracking down some more obscure bugs. I haven't tried any paid-for debuggers, but the Zend/Eclipse combination is more than adequate and completely FREE :thumbsup:

As an aside - I do a lot of embedded C coding as well and find Eclipse pretty useful for that too. Only flaw is that it isn't easy to link up to Green Hills compliers error output... so I have to scroll to the right, or wrong ;-) line manually:scared: