Choosing PHP Editor

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barlas
Naib Subedar
Posts: 315
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Choosing PHP Editor

Post by barlas »

This is just a small guide to help beginners how to choose an editor for PHP. There are many factors that should be noted while choosing an IDE for any language. Like:

1. Syntax Highlighting: Almost all modern day IDEs have syntax highlighting, so it's not much of a factor now.
2. Auto-Complete Functions: As the name suggests, auto-complete auto-completes any function when user starts to write it, e.g. if you write mysql_, it will show all functions starting with mysql_. This feature is nice to have for beginners as they sometimes tend to forget the exact name of a function, and also for advanced programmers as it speeds up the programming.
3. Class/Function Browser: It shows a browse able list of classes and functions that come with PHP. These functions are not auto-completed but can be searched in "Fuction Browser" window. Usually editors that have auto-complete also include function browser, though opposite is not always true.
4. Block Folding: Block folding allows user to collapse/expand any code block, which is usually anything between a set of {} or something like <head></head>. This is a useful feature when editing large code.
5. Plugins: Plugins allows user to extend the usability of editor, so, if you like an editor but it is missing some feature you would like it to have, you can simply write your own plugin for it (that is if no one else has written it already) :)
6. Last Release Date: This is also an important factor, as it gives the idea if the project is still alive and is actively developed.

Decide which of these factors are important for you and then choose a php editor from the list that matches your choice :)

1. gPHPEdit
Latest Version: 1.0 beta (0.9.91) released on 2006-06-05
Features: Syntax highlighting, Auto-Complete Functions(upto PHP 4.2), Class/Function browser, Context sensitive help, Block Folding
Website: http://www.gphpedit.org/

2. BlueFish
Latest Version: 1.1.2 released on 2007-01-03
Features: Syntax highlighting, Class/Function browser, Faster, Uses less memory than other editors
Website: http://bluefish.openoffice.nl

3. jEdit
Latest Version: 4.3pre9 released on 2007-01-20
Features: Syntax highlighting, Block folding, Plugins.
Website: http://www.jedit.org/
Comments: It is written in java and has a lots of plugins, I haven't found any auto-complete plugin though.

4. Screem
Latest Version: 0.17.1 released on 2006-01-23
Features: Syntax highlighting, Fuction list (using ctags), Page Templates, Broken link checking
Website: http://www.screem.org/

5. Scite
Latest Stable: 1.72 released on 2007-01-15
Features: Syntax highlighting, Function list
Website: http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html
Comments: PHP support is not present by deafult in Scite, but you can easily download it from the "Extras" section on website.

6. Quanta Plus
Latest Version: 3.5.6 released on 2007-01-26
Comments: KDE's default web developing tool

Note: All these editors are licensed as GPL, I haven't gotten around testing commercial IDEs yet. I would try to test them and post here soon.

This is by no means complete list of PHP Editors, nor even the most famous ones, but the ones I have tried myself at some point. For a complete list of PHP Editors you can try http://www.php-editors.com
Aqeel Zafar
ranatanveer
Subedar
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Post by ranatanveer »

very good effort aqeel
Regards

Rana Tanveer
+923224194457
Linux Student

For Affordable Web Development http://www.affordableprogrammers.com
http://www.qualityprogrammers.com
MAJID
Naik
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2003 10:23 pm
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Post by MAJID »

SIDE, an OpenSource IDE for PHP programmers
Yes, that is, an IDE for PHP programmers.
Features
* Code completion [not finalized yet]
* Syntax highlighting for PHP, HTML, Javascript, XML, SQL and CSS.
* QuickCodes

Code: Select all

    * Code browser
    * File explorer
    * PhpDoc and MySql Doc toolbars
    * File templates
    * Customizable desktop
    * And more...
Oh yes this is GPL
www.phpside.org

I tried it on windoze and linux and if you do not have any editor this is good but it is not a perfect IDE!
01101101 01100001 01101010 01101001 01100100
asterisk_sip
Lance Naik
Posts: 41
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Location: karachi
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Post by asterisk_sip »

majid yaar jhoot yeh yeh sab :P
OpenSource comes under GPL, But my experties doesnt......:)
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