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Best IDE?

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2002 7:34 pm
by gxpark
Hi,

I've been forever looking for a good PHP IDE ever since I started learning the language... So far all of them are a far cry from what a seasoned VB/VS developer expects.

PHPEd 3 - So far unable to setup the debugger. Project management is lousy at best. "Intellisense" is dumb. I give it 3 out of 5.

Visual SlickEdit 7 - So far so good. Kind of complex, specially the options dialogs and the customization options. No "Intellisense" :( Has block grouping! No debugger. This one gets 4/5.

Maguma Studio - Looking good for a first version. Not good enough do.

Primal Script - Good editor, good project management, so-so FTP options. Rather slow... Gets a 3/5.

All the others I tried don't even get a 2/5 (MetaPad, MultiEdit, dzPad, etc.), and some more don't really apply (Dreamweaver...). I wish someone added PHP to VS.NET, not necessarily that compiles to IL, but if only to use the features of the IDE.

In fact I've been tempted to write an editor from scratch in VS.NET... I wish I had the time.

So what do you think? What's your favorite editor?

Please don't mention NotePad... That kind of programs aren't suitable for large projects.

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2002 9:23 am
by mikeq
PHPEdit Go for the latest development version, not the stable version, there are more features in the development version. It is also free.

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2002 6:10 pm
by Coco
well im still using notepad on a fair sized project and im managing ok...

that being said im the sole developer... if and when i take on new developers then prehaps i would need to change, but since everything is in my head i dont need more right now

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2002 6:55 pm
by hob_goblin
Yes i prefer notepad and wordpad.

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2002 7:41 pm
by gxpark
Ok, I don't understand why you use NotePad.

It's just a matter of taste (or because it loads one second before you click on it :lol:)? Because I can't see how you can code faster with NotePad than with an editor which "autocompletes" your code. You may not want or need syntax highlighting, debugging, etc., but, IMHO, automatic code completion and formatting (indents) makes you code much faster.

I remember the days before VB4, when you had to type ALL by yourself. After VB4 I think no VB developer looked back (the same with other languages).

I have all the "power" tools at work which let me focus on my creativity (well, not completely). When I started practicing in my home, developing fun stuff, I thought I would be ok with NotePad... Wrong. Then I tried a more advanced editor (still not PHP-enabled). Wrong again. I finally had to use Primal Script, which is still not as advanced as I want, but it does its job (although now I'm going to try PHPEdit -thanks mykeq).

So, what's your opinion?

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2002 9:53 pm
by volka
I like phpedit (although it took it's time to get the $#!ยง@ debugger to work)
Syntax highlighting is more important to me than auto-completion because my typos are evenly spreaded over the code and an undefined function is easier to track than i.e. an unpaired bracket (in C/C++ even more than in PHP).
Next to highlighting is a prototype tooltip and then comes auto-completion ;)

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2002 10:19 pm
by hob_goblin
gxpark wrote:(or because it loads one second before you click on it :lol:)
I seem to code fast enough already.

http://phpcomplete.com/section_content.php?id=2

some of those ideas, some which are common sense, can help you code faster...

i tend to cut and paste functions/classes/procedures often and then edit them to fit.

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2002 9:04 am
by gxpark
My point is that no matter how fast you code you can always code faster with a little help. For example, it may take you half a second (or whatever) to close a bracket, but if the IDE does it for you, in the end you gain productivity.

One can argue that maybe you don't like the way an IDE tries to outsmart you, and that is indeed a productivity hit, and that's why I wish PHP IDEs were half as advanced as the VS.NET one (or even VB6's).

Best regards.

Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2002 3:19 am
by Takuma
I'm using ZendStudio, sometimes Dreamweaver MX, and also EmEditor!

NuSphere phpED

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2002 7:22 pm
by phpScott
Is a great IDE it doesn't do that drag and drop stuff. It has a lot of really useful features in it like the little list of variables on that page so you can get your spelling write. A great debugger and easy connections to your db, a cvs client if that is how you are develping as well as a webDav client which works well if you people developing in dreamweaver products.

That gets my vote, if you like typing your code in and running nice and easy locally with a debugger check it out, you can even get a two week trail for free. http://www.nusphere.com

phpScott

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2002 11:59 am
by Silent-Chaos
Was a little surprised not to hear a mention of the Zend IDE. They have a free version of their PHP ide available on site (sry, dont have link handy) and from what I hear (havent used it, yet) its actually pretty good.

Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2002 5:20 am
by DeGauss
Macromedia Homesite.

If you turn off all the tag insight crap and just leave colour coding on then it's groovy.

I'd rather close brackets myself than let some IDE do it for me, otherwise how will i learn?

Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2002 5:36 am
by Takuma
Homesite? Use Dreamweaver MX, it's got everything or if you want to do a serious PHP use PHPEd or Zend Studio.

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2002 7:34 pm
by Tiimmy
Komodo 2.0 all the way!! :twisted:

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2002 2:20 pm
by Crashin
Which of these tools has FTP support?