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The Big PHP IDE Test: Why Use One And Which To Choose
Everyone wants to be more productive, make fewer mistakes and write good code. Of course, that all depends on you, but in most cases integrated development environments (IDEs) can help you achieve those goals more easily. Unfortunately, choosing the right IDE is very difficult because a lot needs to be considered. And the website of almost every IDE tells us it is the best one.
In this post, we’ll take a close look at the most popular PHP IDEs, exploring their functions, comparing them in a table and drawing some conclusions. Hopefully, you’ll get an idea of what each PHP IDE has to offer and which one best fits your needs.
For a long time, I worked in PHP only for fun. I’ve developed Java Web applications with Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA. These are a great Java IDEs. Not surprisingly, I wanted something similar for PHP. The following are some of the features that I found needed to be considered.
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IDE Features
1. Syntax highlighting
Good syntax highlighting improves code readability a lot. Really! Just look at this:
2. Code completion
Automatic code suggestions can help the developer avoid having to type so much. If it supports custom classes and phpDoc, it can even save you from having to read project documentation.
Good code completion can also prevent typos. For example, if typing $cotroller-> does not show you any suggestions, you’ll know something is wrong. Uh oh… it should be $controller!
Poor code completion can slow you down if too many variants are shown or your class methods are not picked up.
It is also good to have file name completion in HTML src=" and PHP include and require.
3. Navigation
One of the most boring things is trying to find where a certain variable has been defined or used. Some good IDEs can help with “GoTo” actions, like go to definition.
Another important feature is search. Searching should not take a long time, even with large projects. Even better is if the IDE lets you move quickly to the next occurrence of a search phrase, like Firefox does with its Quick Find feature.
4. Errors and warnings highlighting
On-the-fly syntax checking can prevent various typos and common programming mistakes. In the example below, the IDE indicates that you may have used = instead of ==:
The more the IDE detects, the better — except false positives, of course.
5. Refactoring and code generation
Refactoring is basically a set of techniques for turning weak code into solid code. Its implementation in PHP IDEs is very weak compared to that of compiled-language IDEs, such as Java and C, but it’s still very useful.
Very basic PHP refactoring includes:
- “Move,” which updates all includes and requires when moving a file to another directory.
- “Rename,” which renames something and ensures it is renamed throughout the project.
- “Safe delete,” which ensures deletion of a file does not harm other parts of the project.
In addition to basic refactoring, some IDEs can generate code for class constructors, getters/setters and even stub methods for a parent class.
6. Debugging
Debugging is not so critical in PHP because you can add echos or use something like FirePHP without even having to recompile your code. But for complex applications in which you need to add echo after each line to see what’s going on, debugging can save you hours.
If the IDE is good enough, it provides you with step-by-step debugging and lets you see the current values of variables in scope.
7. Versioning system
Versioning is extremely useful for both team and one-person development. It shows what changes have been made to a file, when they were made and by whom. A good IDE allows you to visually compare revisions, copy changes from one version to another, revert to previous states and merge changes made by different team members.
When performing common checks and commits, integrating a versioning system such as CVS, SVN, git or Mercurial in your IDE is usually much better than running a separate application.
8. Client-side features
Using PHP alone is very rare. CSS and JavaScript are almost always somewhere in your application. So, good code completion, highlighting, navigation and perhaps some refactoring would be just as beneficial for the other languages and technologies you use in conjunction with PHP.
How To Choose A Good One?
Every IDE provides a lot of features. Some of those features are very useful, some are not. Here are some guidelines to follow to narrow down the one for you:
- Try free ones first. Their feature set may be enough for you, and you wouldn’t need to pay for a license.
- First, make sure the features you want are ones you really need. If they are, check that they work properly in your IDE of choice.
- If you find one IDE that fits well but is missing one or two features, try specialized tools.
- Once you choose an IDE, play with it for a week before implementing it in a big project. You may find your current working habits are too strong to allow you to feel comfortable with it.
A Comparison Table
Along with Vladimir Statsenko, who helped with the section on Aptana, I’ve prepared this comparison table.
What Was Covered
Eclipse-based IDEs
PDT, Zend Studio 6, Aptana PHP and Aptana Studio Pro are built on the Eclipse platform. That means you can use any of the thousands of Eclipse plug-ins out there. If a feature you need is not integrated in the IDE itself, it is most likely available as a third party plug-in.
Eclipse PHP IDEs were the first freeware IDEs with true IDE capabilities, such as complex code completion, code navigation, projects support, etc. Most of them are still free and very powerful.
NetBeans
NetBeans is the new bright kid on the block, but not built on the Eclipse platform. It has most of the features of other IDEs and yet more still. And it’s free, too.
Development of this IDE is very public, open and rapid. Following the development blog and testing new builds as they come out is very interesting, even if there is already a stable version available (v6.5).
What Was Not Covered
There are plenty of powerful notepads such as PSPad, Notepad++, TextMate, vim and Emacs. Some are very similar to IDEs and even better if you want a good text editor but not the full IDE experience. Reviewing all of the good IDEs out there would not be possible (there are so many), so only the major players are compared here.
PHP IDEs We Tested
Here is the list of PHP IDEs we included in our review:
- PDT 1
- PDT 2.0
- Zend Studio 6
- NetBeans 6.5
- NetBeans 7 (development version)
- Aptana PHP
- Aptana Studio Pro
- Codelobster *
- Nusphere PhpED 5.6 *
We thought it would be interesting to allow our readers to edit the table, which is hosted on Google Docs. Feel free to add your favorite IDE if it’s not there, or note some features on the ones that are.
The full table at Google Docs (not editable snapshot)
* Codelobster and Nusphere PhpED were filled in by Russian community members.
Conclusion
Still not using IDE? You may be wasting time. Try it. You’ll see the difference.
Both PDT and NetBeans are good. If you need a lot of plug-ins, Eclipse is the better choice. If editing tools and code completion are more important to you, then pick NetBeans. NetBeans is a bit more responsive, too.
If you are mostly editing HTML and CSS, try Notepad++, vim, TextMate or Emacs. They all have very good HTML editing capabilities and can be configured for simple code completion. And they are faster and lighter than fully featured IDEs.
If you are editing complex JavaScript, try Aptana, which is amazing for JavaScript, or the Spket plug-in for Eclipse, which has nearly the same features.
And remember, IDEs are not meant to change the way you think. They simply speed up the development process.
Commercial vs. Freeware
Strange as it may sound, commercial PHP IDEs such as Zend Studio and Aptana Studio Pro do not have significantly more advantages than free alternatives such as PDT2.0 and NetBeans, both of which are very good.
With Aptana Studio Pro, you get a good IE JavaScript debugger, SFTP, FTPS and some other less-than-useful features for $99.
Like NetBeans, Zend Studio offers a bit more code completion and error detection than PDT. It also has a very good customizable code formatter, refactoring capabilities (which NetBeans also has) and some wizards for the Zend Framework. It starts at $399.
Resources
- PDT Project
Official Eclipse PHP Development Tools website. - Zend Studio
Official Zend Studio website. - NetBeans
Official NetBeans website. - NetBeans for PHP weblog
Here you can learn about new features to be included in upcoming releases and discuss them as they are being developed. - Aptana
Official Aptana website.
(al)
Alexander Makarov is a professional Web developer in Russia. He is also the person behind RMCreative, a Russian blog dedicated to Web developers, designers and everyone interested in how the Web is built.
(6 votes, average: 4.83 out of 5)
Loading ...- 174 Comments
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February 11th, 2009 5:13 pmInformative article. Gives me a lot to think about.
- 3February 11th, 2009 5:27 pm
To be honest I tried before Zend Studio and is the best IDE i’ve tried in my PHP life. The problem with Zend Studio is the cost.
After the Zend’s trial, I moved to e-texteditor (TextMate for Windows) and it’s ok, but I miss Zend Studio.
Could you tell me which of this IDEs is the most like Zend? I tried NetBeans and I didn’t like something but I don’t remember.
Have anybody tried also the Zend PDT (NOT the Zend Studio, I mean the Eclipse with all the Zend stuff).Great article (as ever)
- 4February 11th, 2009 5:28 pm
Ehm … and what about code folding? That’s one pretty addictive feature!
- 5February 11th, 2009 5:29 pm
There is an eclipse SFTP plugin called ESftp ( http://www.chris-alex-thomas.com/projects/esftp/ ). So all those eclipse ide’s can check off that in your spread sheet.
- 6February 11th, 2009 5:33 pm
Nice article! I am very helpful !
- 7February 11th, 2009 5:33 pm
Yeah, these are cool, but I use coda.
- 8February 11th, 2009 5:44 pm
I Use netbeans …. it really suite my needs …
- 9February 11th, 2009 5:51 pm
I’m a huge fan of PDT, I develop in flax a lot too soo being able to have everything in a eclipse based IDE make life soo much easier.
- 10February 11th, 2009 5:53 pm
You should also look at phpDesigner by MPSOFTWARE. Very light and stable and also very cheap. Just recently bought mine.
- 11February 11th, 2009 6:12 pm
I still find Rapid PHP the best IDE out there. Customizable, feature-full but doesn’t feel bogged down and it’s only about $40 (lengthy trial version available).
Tried most of the others you’ve referenced and none ‘fit’ as well for me. Might be as about half the coding I do is procedural/inline as opposed to straight OOP and it seems to handle that best.
- 12February 11th, 2009 6:18 pm
What about PHPEclipse? It predates PDT and I still think PDT is playing catch up.
- 13February 11th, 2009 6:30 pm
vim
- 14February 11th, 2009 6:35 pm
I’ve added Panic’s Coda to the list. It’s a Mac application.
http://www.panic.com/coda/ - 15February 11th, 2009 6:42 pm
Currently, I’m using Zend Studio 5.5 (not Eclipse-based) and it’s awesome..
- 16February 11th, 2009 6:50 pm
@Kenneth – I’ve tried phpDesigner2006 and 2007. I liked 2006 better. What version do you use, and how does it compare to these other versions?
I just use Notepad++, and I have some complaints, but it’s like a good friend; Hard to walk away from.
- 17February 11th, 2009 6:52 pm
Yeah I’m also using phpDesigner. It has very good features and a very competitive price tag. One editing feature that I like that phpDesigner has is the ability to highlight the start and closing tag of an html element. I know that sounds so simple but I have yet to see Dreamweaver incorporate that.
- 18February 11th, 2009 7:03 pm
Microsoft Expression Web 2 provides php syntax coloring, code completion (IntelliSense), a development server that doesn’t require configuration (and also serves up asp.net pages), and common php scripts for quick insertion.
- 19February 11th, 2009 7:09 pm
I use Eclipse with the PHP Development tools from Zend, and it’s the best IDE. and it’s open source ;)
http://www.zend.com/en/community/pdt - 20February 11th, 2009 7:18 pm
i cant believe no mention of far and away the best PHP IDE, and that id phpEd. yes i know its not free, but if your a real developer the small cost of having a professional IDE is an investment well worth making.
- 21February 11th, 2009 7:24 pm
This is funny. Just got back from the Boston PHP Meetup where we went over this exact topic. Wish I knew about it earlier! Good overview of all the major IDE’s. I just can’t let go of my text editor.
- 22February 11th, 2009 7:55 pm
I use EclipsePDT. I have used it for over a year now. I have ZendStudio but in my opinion it is crap. I still cannot get it to hook into my SVN repositories correctly and it just doesn’t offer the stuff to me as EcipsePDT, as odd as that may sound.
I have NetBeans as well, and when I want a fast IDE I use it. There are still a lot of shortcomings in that IDE that really leave me wanting more from it. If it was just a few inches closer to PDT I’d make it my only environment for PHP, HTML, CSS, JS, UML, DBA stuff… it can do everything. Just not as smart as PDT in my opinion.
For quick stuff, in Linux, I use either gedit, ghpedit or vim. They really can’t be beat for weight. Bluefish is another nice editor with lots of features but is a bit heavier than most editors.
For Windows I use notepad++ for my fast stuff, though I have toyed around with Notepad2, Programmers Notepad, PSPad, e-TextEditor, TSWebEditor and a few others.
Regardless of my environment though EclipsePDT has always won out. Always.
Oh yeah, and Aptana studio? Crap in my opinion. It is worse that ZendStudio.
I wrote an article about EclipsePDT in October of 2007 which was a sort of follow up to an article I wrote on available editors which in turn was a follow up to an article I wrote on picking a coding tool. I know the IDE landscape has changed quite a bit, but still, I would hold fast to my contention that EclipsePDT is the best PHP IDE out there.
- 23February 11th, 2009 8:03 pm
Coda FTW.
- 24February 11th, 2009 8:04 pm
I switched to Netbeans i was working on notepad++
notepad++ is fast but i cant ignore the power Netbeans gives you.
Diff of Netbeans is a master piece - 25February 11th, 2009 8:07 pm
Still Notepad has one advantage over both Eclipse (including its derivatives Zend Studio and Aptana) and NetBeans: the freakin’ word-wrap functionality.
- 26February 11th, 2009 8:11 pm
I added Coda to the file.
Who took it out again?
Not nice. - 27February 11th, 2009 8:41 pm
I like Aptana but it’s slow as hell on my VERY modern/souped up/high-end Mac with just moderate-sized files. It’s to the point where it’s unusable, which is a shame because it’s a great free app. If anyone has used Eclipse before, you’d be right at home in Aptana, I really hope they get the speed issues resolved.
I’ll check out NetBeans as well.
- 28February 11th, 2009 10:22 pm
Awww… You forgot PHP Eclipse http://www.phpeclipse.com/ which is different from PDT Eclipse.
- 29February 11th, 2009 10:23 pm
Right now I’m using PDT 2.0 on linux.
Before I was using the easyeclipse distribution. For syntax hilight I prefer easyeclipse that supports also smarty, but on linux has serious problem of stability.
For PDT exists a plugin called smartypdt, but It doen’t work for the last version of PDT.How about the other ides ?
- 30February 11th, 2009 10:25 pm
There is another error: PDT Eclipse is *not* freeware, but free open source software as it is licensed under Eclipse Public License, which is OSI-approved, while no freeware in the world is OSI-approved.
- 31February 11th, 2009 10:33 pm
Mmmm… You forgot to mention that ZEND has a built-in FTP browser, that makes life much easier. I haven’t found another IDE that has this feature…
- 32February 11th, 2009 10:36 pm
I was surprised not to see komodo ide in this test (why bother comparing various version of the same product like pdt 1 / 2 ?).
Check it out: http://www.activestate.com/komodo/
- 33February 11th, 2009 10:50 pm
I’m sad that Ruby on Rails was left out. Aptana Studio carries the RadRails plugin. Seems decent. Just waiting for more bugs to be ironed out before I can give Aptana a solid 5 five star rating. It’s got excellent features though.
- 34February 11th, 2009 10:50 pm
I’m in agreement with Dave who uses Flex too. I was introduced to Eclipse by virtue of Flex Builder. The I wanted to get some runtime PHP debugging going on, instead of the problematic messing with ‘insert/remove echoes, use a log file, etc solutions. Voila PDT. (PHP Dev Tool) I’m delighted with Eclipse and the various plugins it supports. First was a SaS code version repository supplier: now I’ve managed to the do the Linux servers-ide bits to make a SVN repository that I can use Subclipse Eclipse plug-in for Subversion. Guess I don’t need tortoise SVN. If it wasn’t for Eclipse I probably wouldn’t be working with PHP.
This blew my mind: I was able to step in Flex client-side code, into the PHP serverside, and then back into the Flex clientside. I was quite delighted when I saw that work. Of course, we don’t want to be spending too much time in the debugger, but when we have to, it might as well be awesome.
The secret is to have Xdebug on your apache/php engine.
If you’re not using an IDE for your PHP development…. WAKE UP!
My only worry is to how much work it might be to rebuild my various environments if my system got fried/toasted/scorched otherwise critically damaged. Actually: probably not too long. Keep backups!
- 35February 11th, 2009 11:05 pm
Those speach bubbles used in the graphic for this article are excellent. It would be awesome if you made those available as a download in png format. I am trying to get them out of the graphic but they are overlapping.
- 36February 11th, 2009 11:24 pm
I prefer Notepad++ with xdebug and firephp to complete my IDE requirements
- 37February 11th, 2009 11:57 pm
Always wondered what’s out there to craft some PHP code. Greate article! Thanks.
- 38February 12th, 2009 12:13 am
phpEd should be on this compraison. it’s powerful, but a bit pricey.
Myself, I found netbeans to be better, so I switched after phpEd’s trial ;)Also if you’re only in it for HTML/CSS, I would definately go for Top Style lite. it’s free, and has very nice css auto completion.
- 39February 12th, 2009 12:24 am
Hi Guys,
nice article… but regarding the Google Docs Spreadsheet: why don’t you use the “publish as webpage” feature so nobody can fiddle around?
Regards,
Clemens - 40February 12th, 2009 12:42 am
Good article. I thought, the PDT is not any more in development since 2 or 3 years?!
I am waiting for a similiar comparison for JavaScript IDEs ;-)Regards,
michael - 41February 12th, 2009 12:52 am
You should had Komodo & Komodo Edit to the comparison
- 42February 12th, 2009 12:58 am
I’m at home with Aptana or PhpEd. I’ve tried them all, but these two are superior IDE’s then all others by far.
- 43February 12th, 2009 12:59 am
You completely missed Delphi4PHP:
http://www.codegear.com/products/delphi/phpBye
Jan - 44February 12th, 2009 1:11 am
You guys missed PHPEdit – by far one of the best PHP IDE-s. It is especially weird if you consider that it made to the last best php tools article :/
- 45February 12th, 2009 1:11 am
Hi folks…
I am still surprised nobody mentioned Adobe Dreamweaver!
And I am still surprised that many of folks thinks Dreamweaver has onlz design capabilities and not a coding environment….
Several zears ago I used a program called Homesite, when it was still Allaire’s… Than Macromedia bought it and incorporated it into the Dreamweaver so I had to switch if I wanted to use the same coding capabilities + unicode support + other usefull stuff. The only think was I didn’t really like was that DW was very bloated and slow.Over the years Macromedia (and than Adobe) improved DW alot and added some great functionality to DW and stripped down the environment and now if I choose the coding layout it seems very slick and clean and lightweight!
I love many DW coding features and other stuff that are essential for a developer
- good php support (syntax coloring, code completition, debugging and other usefull stuff)
- good html/css/javascript support (same stuff as for php)
- projects (organizing your files – connecting with server side technology)
- incorporated excellent ftp support!
- incorporated subversioning system
- fast
- clean
- lightweightI miss two things…though
- my code snippets (this was stripped from Homesite – I don’t know why… I would like to be able to make my own chunks of code [] with shortcut “php” for example and I would then type php and and press a special key or a combination (in homesite was ctrl+j and my snitppet would appear with cursor in position where | (pipe) was in the snippet- better support for php frameworks like cakePHP or symfony or codeIgniter, etc
sorry for my long post :)
- 46February 12th, 2009 1:11 am
Really really helpfull article! Thanks a lot!
- 47February 12th, 2009 1:26 am
“only the major players are compared here”
I’m sorry, you can’t claim that and call an article ‘The Big PHP IDE Test’ and not include:
Dreamweaver
Komodo IDE
PHPEdit
NuSphere PhpEDThis article is misleading and limited. How many people are really using NetBeans for PHP?
- 48February 12th, 2009 2:18 am
On jobe i’m using Eclipse PDT 2, for php projects.
At home only Netbeans, with php and ruby. - 49February 12th, 2009 2:18 am
This article highlights some useful features of IDEs but I wouldn’t call it a “BIG test”. And it seems like the comparison table is nowhere near complete… You can’t say , “Here is a comparison table” – and then just hope that other people fill it in, lol! :)
I tried many IDEs over several years and Nusphere phpEd is what I liked best. Recently I heard about PHP Designer (http://www.mpsoftware.dk), which looks pretty good.
Zend Studio is too slow and buggy, Eclipse is too chaotic for me. I didn’t like Komodo and UltraEdit – they didn’t have good enough support for multiple displays,
Netbeans looks good and I haven’t tried that before so I’ll check it out.
- 50February 12th, 2009 2:30 am
Visual Studio 2008 and VS.Php for Visual Studio 2008
rocks!!!
- 51February 12th, 2009 2:30 am
I realize that this topic was specific to PHP usage, but I know very few developers who do only PHP (and related JS/SQL/*ML). For programmers who code in multiple languages depending on the active project, Eclipse really does fit the bill.
In my case, I work with several different development teams from different companies. After getting them to base their development operations around Eclipse (and subversion), they not only see more efficiency internally, but I have been able to maximize throughput like never before. Being a consultant, this is extraordinarily important.
I’m sure that this same solution is possible with other IDEs, but I personally haven’t found an IDE that works equally well for C,C++,Java,PHP,JS,SQL,markup, etc, and has the pluggable features (Subversion, etc) that development teams really need. The bonus is that Eclipse works/looks just the same on Windows and Linux.
- 52
- 53February 12th, 2009 2:34 am
Thanks for your comments everyone!
I know there are a lot of good IDEs missing. Feel free to add them to the table.
Please do not delete other member’s contributions. They are really valuable.
demogar
What are the features you like most in Zend Studio?MaJJ
Code folding is in the table at google as well.Karl
Feel free to fix it in the table.the Begger
Speech bubbles were made by my friend http://fazeful.ru/. I’ll ask him about PNG.Clemens
There are 2 versions. One is read only. - 54February 12th, 2009 2:57 am
I’ve been using Komodo Edit since I changed my computer for a Mac.
It’s a little bit confusing at the start for those used to standard and basic text editors like Notepad and Textpad, but once you’re use to it, it’s really more efficient to work with these IDE tools. So, as I’m happy with Komodo Edit, I would recommend it. - 55February 12th, 2009 3:06 am
my favorit is the phpdesigner 2008. It also supports all the above mentioned features.
- 56February 12th, 2009 3:09 am
@OnWebDev – Komodo Edit is free, but it’s NOT Open Source.
Komodo FTW!
- 57February 12th, 2009 3:37 am
too bad PHPeclipse wasn’t covered; I have added it to the sheet; but some people seem to find it funny to delete random stuff from it…
- 58February 12th, 2009 3:55 am
ok e and textmate are not covered; but why encourage people to remain stuck on those maybe powerful but so heavy-to-use interefaces instead of explaining that those all-in-ones are just a strage pack of stuff for the most part already installed in the computer ?
everyones knows alt+tab, and it’s still 10000 times faster than changing from a tab to another inside those weirds softwares !!! - 59February 12th, 2009 4:04 am
and there are some talking about dreamweaver…
can we talk about the use of text tabs inside aptana ?
the markup enclosure in dw ?
common, i don’t get why people wants it to be so complicated and weird…
textmate is a standard (so e is), others should die. - 60February 12th, 2009 4:06 am
Can’t believe phpdesigner2008 is not in this test, by far the best IDE for windows. And really cheap too.
Since I now have a mac I can’t use phpDesigner anymore, and now i am using aptana, but it feels so unnative on the mac.
- 61February 12th, 2009 4:08 am
@Derek Reynolds, @Brian Gottier, and even more @totoloco :
you’re right ! - 62February 12th, 2009 4:10 am
@metthijn : “it feels so unnative on the mac”
windows is unnative, so the software developped on it. - 63February 12th, 2009 4:18 am
I use Aptana and for SciTe some quick editing. Aptana is the best web IDE to me, mainly due to the extensive list of languages that supports by providing autocompletion, and the posibilities that arise from using code templates. I have at my site some code templates specific for WordPress http://www.ilovecolors.com.ar/wordpress-code-templates-for-aptana/ The only pitfall I find for Eclipse based IDEs, including Aptana is that they are a bit slow when it comes to huge amounts of code (let’s say 5000+ lines).
Thanks for this list, I’m going to try NetBeans, I’ve heard a lot about it. - 64February 12th, 2009 4:19 am
I use NetBeans. It’s really the only usable IDE for me. Eclipse + PDT are so difficult to set up.
Coda is not an IDE. Dreamweaver is not an IDE. They don’t have most of the features defined in this article: debugging, refactoring, code completion just aren’t present with the same depth as Eclipse or NetBeans.
- 65February 12th, 2009 4:21 am
could you please close the spreadsheet for editing? the table at it’s current version is not useable anymore.
- 66February 12th, 2009 4:34 am
I’m missing PHPEdit… The best for me so far…
- 67February 12th, 2009 4:41 am
Roger
There is read only version. - 68February 12th, 2009 4:53 am
Netbeans runs just fine under 64bit linux.
PDT or Zend Studio does not. - 69February 12th, 2009 5:22 am
As mentioned by someone else above PHP Designer (http://www.mpsoftware.dk) is fantastic, I can’t get enough of it.
- 70February 12th, 2009 5:33 am
We really like Visual Studio 2008 and VS.Php. I am not a big MS fan, but they do know how to make dev tools. Combine that with Visual SVN and we have a very powerful combo. Auto complete and auto formatting, deploy with one click to a test server, and then sync from the IDE with subversion. Its seamless and easy, even on my Mac with VS running in Fusion/Vista.
- 71February 12th, 2009 5:33 am
My current favorite for Windows is Rapid PHP. As a long-time HomeSite user (before Macro-Adobe abandoned it), it fits my needs well.
It’s a commercial product (around $40), but I’ve found it to be much more usable than others (I use it for PHP as well as JS, CSS, HTML, etc). I tested all of the ones here, plus about 4 more, and ended up buying Rapid PHP.
I haven’t been disappointed.
- 72February 12th, 2009 6:52 am
I just wanted to add that Nusphere phpEd has a built in FTP client, Database client and Terminal client (SSH) :) and it incorporates the OS shell menu, which is extremely useful if you use something like TortoiseSVN. TortoiseSVN is better than any “built-in” SVN client.
- 73February 12th, 2009 7:04 am
I used NotePad++ for single quick files and NetBeans for projects.
- 74February 12th, 2009 7:06 am
I have tested several free and commercial php-IDE’s (including Zend Studio and Studio for Eclipse). I can say, that phpEd does the best job – overall. It has no extenions like eclipse – but the debugger works good and the code completion is by far the best i have ever had. phpEd parses the strangest code structures and offers the correct classes and parameters. And (for everyday work) it is great that a file doesn’t have to be in a project to use the code completion. phpEd always shows the classes from the currently selected project – even if you have opened a file via ftp / sftp.
- 75February 12th, 2009 7:38 am
Stunned that phpEclipse wasn’t included in the list. Works very well.
- 76February 12th, 2009 7:46 am
What about integrated debugging? This is really an important feature for me.
Anyways, finally a complete article that states the obvious for me: NetBeans is the best. I also think Eclipse based are good, but Eclipse crawls like a worm… - 77February 12th, 2009 7:54 am
I Find Your Lack of Komodo Edit Disturbing..
- 78February 12th, 2009 7:59 am
In reply to: “Komodo Edit is free, but it’s NOT Open Source.”
Komodo Edit is open source. We build the distributed version from the sources available on openkomodo.com. Our code is largely under the same tri-license as Firefox, though we use other open source libraries that are under various OSI licenses. Komodo IDE is not open source, but is built largely on top of Edit.
Regards,
Shane Caraveo
ActiveState - 79February 12th, 2009 8:16 am
It seems the idea to let community help a bit was not so productive. That’s sad…
- 80February 12th, 2009 8:48 am
dude! please check that comparison table. i got goatsed. and i’m at work. =[
- 81February 12th, 2009 8:54 am
TextMate beats any bloated IDE out there.
But, that is a handsome console font you’re using in the screenshots. What is it?
- 82February 12th, 2009 9:49 am
I use eclipse and I use it for everything as far as programming: php, java, etc. Hasn’t failed me yet
- 83February 12th, 2009 9:55 am
I prefer using a combination of Kwrite, Kate and Quanta Plus.
- 84February 12th, 2009 10:39 am
Aptana Studio for PHP is free … and open source for use standalone or as a plug-in to Eclipse. (The article above omits that fact from its list of free PHP IDEs.)
- 85February 12th, 2009 10:45 am
I started out on Homesite 1.2, before getting Homesite 4 then 5 :) Yup way back when. I spent a while in Dreamweaver too (for my sins). First UltraDev (when it ran) and then MX followed by MX 2004. I was then introduced to Zend Studio 4 and I’ve been using it ever since. ZDE5 and 5.5 were both excellent and the licence is remarkably flexible as it covers all platforms. I am using ZDE6 now, largely because I have paid for it but it was a battle getting used to it. The first release was plagued by issues too which did not help, but 6.1.1 is starting to get decent – though it is still a long way from being reliable with random SVN issues and lockups where it just stops responding. I have some large’ish projects (few 1000s of classes, same in images etc) and it’s good for searching. I miss the class search from ZDE5 there is only file search in ZDE6. That was very useful oh and the lack of wordwrap is unbelievably annoying! Yes I know that there is Ahtik (spelling??) word wrap, but it should be in there. Biggest plus for ZDE6 though is the debugging and profiling with Zend Debugger. It is by far and away the slickest integration for PHP debugging in any IDE. You can get the Zend Debugger for “free” (you dont need Zend Platform but you can do some quite cool stuff if you do) and the reports it generates and very useful.
I think if I had not invested so much time and money or if I had no budget I would likely use NetBeans now. I’ve played with 6.5 and while some of it is a little alien, it is extremely quick (compared to Eclipse based IDEs) and offers most of the features I need.
I have tried Aptana, which IMHO is pretty rubbish. It is even slower than standard Eclipse or ZDE6, uses more memory and has a truly awful interface (if that is possible for Eclipse!). I have also been through latest Dreamweaver CS3/4 which is not really any good for PHP coding and PHP Designer which is a fast, windows only app with no ability to checkout from source control into a new project and debugging uses wincachegrind which is not included! Also has a really overloaded interface with tonnes of icons and menus.
Finally, I have Komodo Edit to try but checking out from SVN into a new project is a requirement so I doubt that I would consider it for real dev work as the free Edit has no source control support.
- 86February 12th, 2009 11:23 am
Unfortunately, somebody has deleted the comparison table content. :(
You should’ve protected the sheets. - 87February 12th, 2009 11:47 am
Dreamweaver is not in the same league as the ones mentioned. It is overpriced and a poor performer when it’s for developing stuff like PHP or RoR.
Aptana can develop PHP, RoR, Javascript (and the frameworks), HTML, CSS, etc.
- 88February 12th, 2009 11:55 am
Komodo? Dreamweaver CS4? I expected those to make it on the list.
I personally Dreamweaver CS4.
- 89February 12th, 2009 1:11 pm
ByColor
There are two tables. One of them is read only. - 90February 12th, 2009 1:19 pm
Until recently, I was a Dreamweaver user.. but had a good look into Netbeans 6.5 and it really grew on me. The code highlighting and navigation is really nicely done. One aspect that I really took to is its macro system. Hit the record button, type out a common php line that you might use often for say debugging, even backtrack your carot (cursor) afterwards, then stop the recording, bind it to a key, and voila! So when I want to output an array to check it’s keys / values by eample, I made a macro record: echo “pre”.print_r($, true); the cursor is positioned just after the dollar sign when all is said and done.. so I can simply add in the array’s name and done!
I looked up plenty of Netbean’s built in macros for stuff like foreach (type fore then hit tab), functions (type fnc then hit tab), etc… there is a slew of macros that hammer out stuff so fast and easy. Other elements like code highlighting and maniuplating is great as well.. it enables me to click on a variable (which highlights all instances of that variable onscreen), hit Ctrl+r, type in a new variable name.. press enter, done! All instances are renamed. Very slick system IMO, and those reasons are why I swicthed from Dreamweaver.. Best of all, it’s free! Gotta love that!
EDIT.. in the above echo code sample, the “pre” is actually the pre tag.. it just won’t display properly within the post.
- 91February 12th, 2009 1:31 pm
I continue to be really rather surprised that Komodo Edit (free) and Komodo IDE (costs some) don’t make it into these lists. The interface is lovely, has macros, doc support etc and a nice plugin system.
I use Komodo Edit with Zigversion on my mac, both are free and make for a great development environment.
C
- 92February 12th, 2009 2:06 pm
I’m usually using Netbeans, it’s great 99,9%, but the most basic of editors, linewrapping is missing! A constant annoyance. Still easier to use than Aptana imho.
- 93February 12th, 2009 2:57 pm
I went from using Dreamweaver to Zend Studio and I couldn’t be happier. There are so many features (too many to list) that made me fall in love with Studio. It has definitely improved my workflow and is easily worth the price.
- 94February 12th, 2009 2:58 pm
I used aptana back in mid june or so but dropped it because it seemed broke.
I moved on to eclipse, but the extenisive setup process made my head twist and turn every time I formatted so I tried PDT for a change, but the PDT 1.0 (which was available at the time) didn’t really have a satisfactory array of features for me. I moved on to a NetBeans a few months ago and I’ve been there ever since. Especially the SVN controls are great for quickly diffing a file and viewing the log. - 95February 12th, 2009 3:23 pm
This was a super helpful article! It would be a lot cooler if you had a reader poll so I could see which tool everybody else likes most. I think I’m going to go with NetBeans!
Thanks for the awesomeness research!
- 96February 12th, 2009 3:31 pm
I was an Eclipse PDT user on Linux for a long time but in the last few months I’ve moved to Netbeans 6.5 for development. It’s more stable, less resource hungry and everything works out of the box (no need for Subversion or html/css plugins). Zend Studio is great but it’s only really worth stumping up the fee if you’re using Zend Platform. I’ll be sticking with Netbeans for the foreseeable future.
- 97February 12th, 2009 4:23 pm
Congratulations on your excellent article. I’ve found it really helpful (specially the thorough table comparing all of the tools feature by feature).
Maybe it would be interesting to add a couple of tools to the analysis, since they might be useful for some developers:
- Delphi for PHP (already mentioned by Jan Doggen)
- CodeCharge Studio (not mentioned yet AFAICS)Thank you very much for sharing your research with all of us!
- 98February 12th, 2009 4:35 pm
emacs with php-mode all the way!
- 99February 12th, 2009 4:36 pm
Kate, svn and rsync have been my buddies for quite awhile. And I have been getting busier – thought an IDE could speed me up. I used one in my old Windows daze.
I tried PDT, but it seems very heavy, and the docs are arcane. Little or no community for the newcomer.
Aptana crashes on startup.
Now I am trying Netbeans and getting someplace with it, It has a community too.
I may have found a winner! - 100February 12th, 2009 4:45 pm
You should make the headers sticky so that people don’t have to continuously return to the top to see which IDE is in which column… Nice comparisons though
- 101February 12th, 2009 4:49 pm
phpEdit 3.x is really the best editor out there. I don’t understand why u skipped it.
- 102February 12th, 2009 5:38 pm
NetBeans 6.5 has been a great discovery for me. I’ve tried Eclipse-based solutions as well as kicked the tires on some of the commercial offerings, but NetBeans is easier, faster, lighter and simply more enjoyable for me to use.
I use the stable release for day-to-day work, but follow upcoming developments through their blog and NetBeans TV. Excellent documentation and videos.
- 103February 12th, 2009 7:04 pm
basen in this comparison, i begin thinking to try netbeans. basically, i’m an eclipse big lover. thanx for this big great comparison..
- 104February 12th, 2009 7:18 pm
“Still Notepad has one advantage over both Eclipse (including its derivatives Zend Studio and Aptana) and NetBeans: the freakin’ word-wrap functionality.”
You best be joking. EVERY editor I’ve used has this, including NuShpere. Just do a little poking around.
- 105February 12th, 2009 8:36 pm
I will put another vote in for NetBeans. I switched over recently after trying (and buying!) Zend Studio, and then PDT. Netbeans is a lot lighter, faster and easier to configure. Works out of the box and has macro’s, and a lot lot more.
Try NetBeans, it is free and open source
- 106February 12th, 2009 10:24 pm
just wanted to add that in fact nusphere phped does include smarty support – this is the big reason that I use it over anything else (besides the great tortoise integration) – need to figure out some more of the question marks for the others regarding smarty.
- 107February 12th, 2009 11:41 pm
Hello
I use Nupshere, and i dont think you have have realy tested it because some functionalites are missing. The best for me with a very good project manager. - 108February 13th, 2009 12:06 am
ha, which one is the best always be a hot topic.
As my view, notepad++ is lightweight and fast tools when work in windows. It’s really good to me.
When i in ubuntu, i use PDT and gedit to do php work. But i really want to find a more better IDE, eclipse based IDE really strong but also too big. I’ll try Netbeans after read this article. - 109February 13th, 2009 12:56 am
Debugging is not so critical in PHP because you can add echos or use something like FirePHP without even having to recompile your code
You can add the equivalent of an echo in any server side language. Comparing an echo statement to debugging is like comparing chalk and chesse.
- 110February 13th, 2009 1:13 am
That’s a great spreadsheet, but it can be made a lot better with a little color. I copied it and added a few “color background by content” rules. That feature can be found under Format > Change colors with rules…
Rules I suggest are:
Text contains “√”, make background green
Text is exactly “-”, make background red/pink
Text is exactly “?”, make background yellowI haven’t worked with PHP much, but it looks like Netbeans 7 has the most green.
- 111February 13th, 2009 3:37 am
I’ve tried a lot of some mentioned in the comments and I’ll throw in a couple of cents about them. Just to make an intro, I am a heavy Eclipse fan, but right now I’m using NetBeans 6.5 due to some serious issues I encountered with it when trying to use the SFTP and SVN plugins.
Dreamweaver: was my main tool for a long time and I like that I can do both code and design. However it lacks many serious features which I use: phpDoc comments (with templates), SVN, UML capabilities.
Zend Studio: personally I hate the interface, it’s rather slow, convincing it to work with SVN was a headache.
phpEdit: feels dated, code completion and remote connectivity barely work, no SFTP.
phpDesigner 2006 & 2008: awfully slow, used for less than 10 minutes. I can’t describe how slow it feels compared to any of the others.
PDT: would be very nice if it would work seamlessly when combined with that Remote plugin (which has SFTP). Also allows for remote SVN through svn+ssh if you’re willing to spend some extra effort. I tried it under Ubuntu and for some reason it became a slight headache. Worked much better under Windows but by that time I was already attached to NetBeans.
Aptana: very nice, but no UML possibilities. I used to like it a lot, but at some point it crashed in a way that even after reinstalling it simply wouldn’t start after showing the splash screen.
- 112February 13th, 2009 3:38 am
I’m using PDT 2, it supports SVN with the same methods as PDT 1 (Subversive/Subclipse plugins) as well as Mercurial with Mercurial plugin, it can use any db with Eclipse DTP, can use FTP/SFTP with same plugins as PDT1, and of course you can use ANT with PDT 2, with JSEclipse plugin you can use jQuery, prototype etc. js libraries in file editing, so it is strange that these functions marked missing in the comparison table…
- 113February 13th, 2009 4:11 am
Hi,
I use phpED, which I found very good! But it lacks the javascript IDE functionality, so I’m triing to get used to Aptana (and a linux also). For PHP works I tried Zend, but I found phpED much better.
phpED can do code folding, and not just for functions, methods and other predefined statements, but for selection also! That is a very handy tool!BYE: TeeCee :o)
- 114February 13th, 2009 6:11 am
having a quick look at the comparison table, i noticed that aptana has no IE debugger, witch is false if we talk about the studio pro version.
- 115February 13th, 2009 6:37 am
Hi!
I just want to say, great article. You actually got me to switch to NetBeans, but because the JavaScript support is far superior than Eclipse (PDT). Just to be able to have jQuery auto-completes is awesome!
However, in your spreadsheet you mention wizards for Drupal modules, I was only able to find one plugin to do that, for version 6.5, and it crashed. So I don’t know if you were referring to this plugin or something else…
Again, thanks!
- 116February 13th, 2009 6:37 am
you forgot quanta plus. Its a great IDE, offers code completion, syntax highlighting, html/css support and easily rivals PDT
- 117February 13th, 2009 7:22 am
Quanta, maybe, but it’s platform specific and requires KDE (can’t get it to run smoothly on my box with Gnome).
- 118February 13th, 2009 8:29 am
lo.j, that was very quick look ;) Aptana Pro is there also.
- 119February 13th, 2009 9:37 am
I’m a professional PHP developer and I use phpDesigner, it’s great does everything I need it to!
- 120February 13th, 2009 11:55 am
I have used notepad++ for most of my PHP needs over the years. I like how light weight and fast it is. I edit most of my PHP remotely from multiple machines so it is nice not to have any files locally to perform editing.
After reading this article I tried NetBeans; wow slow! I like some of the features but I do not like the fact that it requires you download every file from the host machine when first building a project. I am going to stick with notepad++ and my trusty FTP client for now.
- 121February 13th, 2009 12:13 pm
For ultimate productivity, choosing any IDE would depend on some scopes.
For large scale enterprise level PHP project i refer Zend Studio, Alternate ( Eclipse + PDT + Spket )
For little PHP project (site, joomla, drupal) i refer Dreamweaver, Alternate whatever u like.———————————————————————————————————————
Sometimes i like Leopard, Sometimes i like XP, and has a soft corner for Ubuntu - 122February 13th, 2009 2:54 pm
Amazing phpEdit was not included in this review. I’ve used it for 5 years now. I once in a while try out the competition, but I come back to phpedit each time because it simply works, launches fast, is highly configurable, is actively developed and nicely conceived. http://www.waterproof.fr
- 123February 13th, 2009 5:33 pm
I use Dreamweaver for php editing. It has just about every feature the programs presented here have, so … I think it should be added.
- 124February 13th, 2009 5:43 pm
+ for Netbeans. Awesome IDE
- 125February 14th, 2009 12:15 am
netbeans is perfect.
- 126February 14th, 2009 3:21 am
Aptana is the best, the greatest and a must-have!!!
- 127February 14th, 2009 6:36 am
I’ve followed ur post..
Dreamweaver sucks.. u r probably using it cuz thats what u only know..
phpdesigner is brilliant..but i think u guys have convinced me to checkout netbeans
- 128February 15th, 2009 12:52 am
Absolutely shocking that Komodo is not listed here.
Back when there weren’t many IDEs with PHP support, I checked out about 4 of them. Zend Studio was very nice but way to unstable and buggy.
Komodo ended up being my choice. I’ve been pretty happy with it, although it can be complicated to configure and it doesn’t seem to import your project libraries very well into its code completion and awareness database.
But what other IDE out there has pretty solid VI emulation? Hmmmm?
:)
- 129February 15th, 2009 10:49 am
Harry Slaughter,
NetBeans? - 130February 15th, 2009 5:02 pm
Congratulations!! Excellent article!!
I’m using Aptana Studio and Code Charge Studio, now. Don’t forget this IDEs:
- Delphi for PHP (already mentioned by Jan Doggen and Marcus Friedman) from Embarcadero/CodeGear
- CodeCharge Studio (already mentioned by Marcus Friedman) from YesSoftware.
Thanks for your research! - 131February 15th, 2009 5:43 pm
Thumbs up for Komodo…worth a look.
- 132February 15th, 2009 11:10 pm
Another +1 for Netbeans 6.5
client-side debuggers, code compeltion for JS, PHP, CSS and HTML, the css designer is awesome and the auto-completion with documentation is great
not to mention it is light-weight, without the overhead of an internal server and environment, you run and debug against your own server instance(s). 16MB download vs 350MB for Zend Studio, and it is *a lot* better, faster etc.
one thing to edit in the comparison chart, Netbeans 6.5 actually does show you browser compatability in Javascript and CSS. In the options for a project, you can specify your target browsers/versions and it will filter methods based on your target platforms.
Every PHP developer should download and at least try Netbeans
- 133February 16th, 2009 3:50 am
I have very good support for Zend Framework Zend Studio Neon prefer. You know the code completion, refactoring, quick navigation between code. I find them useful for zend framework. At least you can feel more comfortable using OOP. Javascript support to strengthen and Ext-Js for the plan to use the plug-in installed on SkpetIDE. Thus was very delicious.
- 134February 16th, 2009 5:05 am
Correction: My previous message was written SkpetIDE wrong. SpketIDE be correct spelling.
Excuse me. - 135February 16th, 2009 5:21 am
I’m using a simple text editor mostly (”joe”, which has php syntax highlighting, too). Eclipse and it’s variants seem pretty fast nowadays. However, I still found it to be overkill for my projects.
What’s irking me most about those IDEs, is that they create some “workspace” directory to put stuff. Till today, I can manage my projects (even the big ones) quite nicely without. And if the project files aren’t using any standardized file format – what’s the point?
Moreover, does any of the newer IDEs support XDG_CONFIG_HOME instead of spamming my home directory? - 136February 16th, 2009 7:19 am
NetBeans is nice, i love the way i can navigate trought my classes from definition to usages. I think it’s the lightest JDK-Based tool, even if it takes more than a bit to start up.
But i think that its way to manage project, expecially if they’re on remote server, isn’t smart at all. I really love the quickness i can reach by modifying files with Notepad++ (by the chance, does anybody know some IDE or similar for that text editor?)
- 137February 16th, 2009 10:13 am
I have used many editor komodo ide/edit all eclipse based php editors but i think netbeans is the best. It has php support like a good ide should have db nav and what i like the most is the javascript support that beats all.
- 138February 16th, 2009 11:15 am
PDT2 is the best. It has all nice features enough for php developers.
>> Great PHP support – intellisense, outline and function finding, jump to function and variable defination, Bookmarks, great search feature, code folding, highlighting vairables, code formatting, code templates.
>> Sufficient html support ( can be extended via plugins)
>> Javascript coloring (JSeclipse could be nice plugin, havent use much though)
>> SVN integration (subeclipse)
>> todos @@todo
- 139February 17th, 2009 9:37 am
As a professional PHP coder (meaning, getting paid to spend 8+ hours a day coding PHP), I’ve tried most PHP editors.
By far, my favorite is Zend Studio 5.5 (not the Eclipse based Zend Studio!)
- The editor looks great, and gives most of the room to the code, not to icons, toolbars, etc. Works great with HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
- Fantastic debugging support. If you are a professional coder, you are going to be debugging, not using ‘echo’ statements. It is a lot faster to debug code watching variables than to enter echo statements where you ‘think’ the problem may be.
- Word wrap, printing, etc, just plain work without any thinking required.
- FTP/SFTP support. I code from multiple boxes pointing to my DEV box (before checking in the code). Zend Studio makes this simple.Zend has been pushing people towards Zend Studio 6, which is based on Eclipse. It makes sense for them as they can build upon the shoulders of an established product, however the end result is way inferior to their previous versions. SFTP crashes randomly, obscure error messages that won’t let you view the code in the editor, word wrap not built in, etc.
Oh, and Zend Studio runs on Windows, OS X, and Linux.
It’s a fantastic product, though I would say too expensive for the average coder. It’s geared towards the enterprise with a $500 per seat license.
- 140February 20th, 2009 10:05 am
Creo que les faltó incluir el que según mi criterio es el mejor de todos:
PhpDesigner.
Una contra: su licencia es comercial, pero es el más completo de todos. - 141February 24th, 2009 2:39 am
First of all thank you for a great article!
However, you miss some important PHP IDEs like phpDesigner see http://www.mpsoftware.dk which also have a very strong code completion, syntax highlighting, realtime error checking, support for oop and a lot more!
phpDesigner is one of my favorite tools :D
- 142
- 143February 24th, 2009 10:44 am
I really like Aptana Studio, but it seriously has some speed problems with even moderately sized files.
NetBeans 6.5 doesn’t seem to have word wrap so you’re stuck in horizontal scroll city. Big time fail.
- 144March 1st, 2009 11:41 pm
I found this compare table not include Unit Test part
and miss VS.PHP IDE - 145March 2nd, 2009 11:07 am
where is PHPDesigner?
ps: moderator, pls remove the link if you consider this to be advertising. i’m on good intentions :)
ps2: many thx for this article - 146March 6th, 2009 12:13 am
HI.
You miss new free very good PHP IDE – Codelobster PHP Edition
It has also Drupal, Joomla, WordPress and Smarty plug-ins.Regards,
Stas. - 147March 10th, 2009 5:19 am
No one seems to have mentioned database connection and browsing inside the IDE. I know Netbeans includes this, how about other IDEs?
- 148April 10th, 2009 12:41 am
Where can I find Netbeans 7 ? I can’t find it anywhere !
- 149April 23rd, 2009 6:35 pm
I like Zend Studio for its Analyze Code functionality but I like Komodo Edit better for the HTML and CSS syntax completion. Is there any plan for Komodo Edit to have that functionality?
- 150May 15th, 2009 1:42 am
HI.
This article is really interesting.
I found PHPEdit, this software is free for students or schools.
http://www.phpedit.com/ - 151June 6th, 2009 8:53 pm
I’m installing Aptana right now, I work both on windows and linux. In my windows machine, my choice it’s Notepad++ (I was using PSPad, but the fact the has not been updated in a very loooong time, made chance).
But in linux I cant find something similar. I tried BlueFish, gphpEdit, jEdit and they were similiar, but not the same, BlueFish was almost the same, except I can’t see which text I selected when copying/pasting. I Tried PDT, and worked fine, but it gave me a lot of errors, when checking CSS code, and also it frooze really often.these are my 2 cents.
- 152July 5th, 2009 4:17 pm
komodo edit best for me.
- 153July 21st, 2009 6:23 am
I know Notepad++ but I prefer Emeditor. It is commercial but cheap, the highest quality text editor I ever came across.
I hated Ecliplse (big, bulky, complex, and I couldnt even get it to work). Im now using Codelobster for free (because of code completion and debugging… and price!) and will hopefully check Netbeans. - 154August 16th, 2009 7:54 pm
I found, Netbeans is the best
- 155August 17th, 2009 1:28 pm
Awesome article ! and a great comparison. I’m a big fan of NetBeans IDE. You tested 6.5, but 6.7 is already out and it is the bomb I tell you !
I’ve written a couple of words about NetBeans + PHP check it out http://tr.im/pQYT
And now the 6.8 release is coming and I’m anxiously waiting because it is supposed to have full Symfony support !
Cheers :) - 156August 23rd, 2009 6:42 pm
Notepad++ is good for people who just want to keep it simple.. But, for slower computers the software always crashes..
- 157September 15th, 2009 7:56 am
Another plug for PHPDesigner. Integrated FTP and SVN support – great highlighting – snippets – and now in V7 javascript / jquery code completion.
Everyone has their needed requirements and mine must be pretty specific to me. I’ve tested all of the IDEs in this roundup and none compared to PHPDesigner. Great stuff.
- 158September 15th, 2009 8:42 am
This is one of those articles that tells me exactly what I needed to know, cheers!!!
- 159
- 160October 12th, 2009 2:45 pm
Why is phpDesigner not mention in this article??
phpDesigner is without no doubt my favorite PHP IDE and PHP editor and with the new release phpDesigner 7 its now also my preferred HTML, CSS and JavaScript editor! – check it out at http://www.mpsoftware.dk/phpdesigner.php
It rocks!!!
- 161October 14th, 2009 2:18 am
It should be noted that “Netbeans 7″ was renamed to “Netbeans 6.7″ after this article was published. It might clear up a lot of confusion if that was corrected in the comparison table. I was driven slightly mad for a while trying to find the fabled “Netbeans 7.”
- 162October 19th, 2009 3:07 am
Aptana PHP has word-wrap and SFTP support. I’m sold…
- 163October 28th, 2009 10:13 am
Three things I have been looking for from an IDE.
1. Multi-line search (text area, not a text field)
2. Line ending control – I work between windows/mac and linux os’s depending on where I am coding so changing the line endings is a pain. (CR-LF etc)
3. Open SourceNetbeans has neither of the first 2, but other than that its great, dreamweaver has the 1st 2 but not the 3rd, if others could let me know of anything that comes close to netbeans, but has all three ticks, I would be grateful.
- 164November 2nd, 2009 3:10 pm
G- I think Notepad++ may have what you are after.
I am after a PHP ide that has intellisense autocompletion for PHP and javascript (as well as complete js evt handlers, e.g. a built-in bible) does such a thing exist? - 165November 18th, 2009 7:46 am
I am working with Activestates Komodo Pro and am very sytisfied with it. Stable, intuitive and offers all the IDE features that I expect. The Light version is for free.
- 166November 22nd, 2009 10:37 pm
Any IDE written entirely on Java is slow. I am not blaming Java. In use Aptana Studio and notice that the Intelli-Sense is slow when compared to Visual Studio, still Aptana is a very good IDE. I am sad that have recently withdrawn support for PHP.
NetBeans is very slow if you don’t have that chunk of RAM it needs, but it’s user-friendliness is remarkable.
- 167November 28th, 2009 8:01 am
I’ve tried almost all of them, and PhpED is by far the best of those I’ve tried.
Unfortunately I moved to Mac and now can’t use PhpED natively. Looking for something that comes close to PhpED, but haven’t found it yet.
- 168December 24th, 2009 9:18 am
I was pretty happy with zend studio 6. Great for oo. Saw coda on mac, and it seems to have all the features I’m after. Also more visually pleasing. Used aptana for a while, but dropped it. After reading this article, I’m thinkin beans! But will download all the free ones and put them to the test. This is a great resource! Will post my final decision.
- 169December 29th, 2009 7:05 am
Intresting article! I almost wasted 400 $ on an editor which has less features that some free counterparts. I’ll try some of the editors mentoined here before i consider buying Zend Studio. Netbeans 6.8 is the first one I’ll try.
- 170December 31st, 2009 6:41 am
I really prefer Espresso for Mac. Very simple but with many hidden features.
Also I love code snippets - 171January 2nd, 2010 10:44 pm
I’m agreed with Warren Zend Studio 5.5 was the best, the following version are really not good !
I tried NetBean 6.8 and Zend Studio 7, they don’t have a FTP Browser !!! That is a real mistake in my opinion. - 172January 4th, 2010 6:53 pm
Vote for PHPDesigner 7…
it’s rock!!!!
the best PHP Editor that I ever tried.
before that i’ve been using adobe dreamweaver, NuSphere, etc.
but after I know PHPDesigner, I don’t wanna try another editor. - 173January 6th, 2010 10:44 am
I vote for Textmate!
- 174February 7th, 2010 10:42 am
You are forgot Nusphere Phped http://www.nusphere.ru
Very useful and fast IDE.
- 00
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- Photoshop Actions
- Stunning Pictures and Photos
- Fantastic HDR Pictures
- Logo Design Tutorials
- Free Design Templates
- 10 Mistakes In Logo Design
- Photoshop Custom Shapes
- 40 Creative Design Layouts
- 8 Layout Solutions
- 53 CSS Techniques
- Photography Techniques
- Black & White Photography
- Styling Design Elements
- CSS-Based Forms
- 50 jQuery Techniques
- 50 Portfolio Websites
- 50 CSS Techniques
- Creative Logo Designs
- Desktop Wallpapers
- 25 Open Source Mac Apps
- 50 Free Icon Sets
- Learn Something Every Day: a nice little blog updated every day - http://bit.ly/rmcES
- We’re Ready for CSS3, but are we Ready for CSS3? - http://bit.ly/cKN7Bz
- lovely-css: a grid-based CSS framework - http://bit.ly/ayA0wb
- How The CSS Selector nth-child Works - http://bit.ly/cgPMqe
- 33 New High Quality Adobe Illustrator Tutorials - http://bit.ly/bTgFbu
- How to Drastically Improve Your Designs - http://bit.ly/a9L1sb
- A Quick Look at Mobile Web Designs - http://bit.ly/9TCWCG
Nice article and really complete comparison table! Personally I’ve been using Notepad and Notepad++. There’s also Komodo Edit, a free (open source) PHP IDE that I’ll probably try out soon.