Jump to content

PHP development in an IDE?


Guest FirefoxRocks

Recommended Posts

Guest FirefoxRocks

Is it recommended to use an IDE when developing PHP applications? If so, what do you recommend? I know of NetBeans, and I've also heard of Eclipse, but do any of you use an IDE?I can see that they manage your project more easily but personally I prefer Notepad++, and now I'm learning more object-orientated stuff to reuse code more easily.What's your opinion?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, IDEs help you develop websites faster. Want to develop websites faster? Then, maybe you want to use an IDE. Personally, I would rather my editor loaded quickly, so I don't really like IDEs, but things like Eclipse or Dreamweaver (when used properly of course) are great aids.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I personally use Coda on my Mac, and there are a number of features I really love about it. The file browser is faster than a text editor's, it includes a code navigator, and, the best of it, Clips, which basically replace a word (trigger) with a block of text (for example, I write new, press Tab, and the word is replaced with a basic XHTML page). An IDE also includes source versioning, and, in my case, books, as well as fast and easy Terminal access. And most of them have code hinting and completion, which definitely help beginners understand the code better (ex.: I was only using the first four arguments of mysqli_connect when I was following a book, but the code hinting feature in Coda showed me there were two more, which ultimately helped me).I also consider most of the IDEs to be bloatware, filled with features one does not use often, confusing a beginner.I'd recommend you try many IDEs and get to learn the one you like as well as possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use Eclipse at work for what has mostly been Javascript coding for iTV on the AVE platform; soon to be adding Java coding to that as well. One of the biggest things I use it for is subversion integration and managing resources on the host. Once I get into Java, I will be managing localhost duties there as well.However, when I am working strictly on websites (of my own) I just fire up my VM and use Context. PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript, I do it all there. It's how I started and its what I'm most comfortable with for that workflow, and since my boss got me into IDE's, that why I use them at work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use NetBeans, and I must say it's great in every way, when we're talking about PHP development. It still has some way to go before it becomes a good web design and development IDE (Dreamwaver and Expression Web take the lead on that one), but it's already beyond an excellent PHP dev IDE.I've used Eclipse, and while it has all the stuff NetBeans has, it has them in a fashion I'm personally less comfortable with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my boss is a big NetBeans fan. We tend to go back and forth, haha. Eclipse wouldn't do that, oh, NetBeans wouldn't do that... :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...