PHP spans an entire spectrum of interpretive languages. From the traditional server-side scripting language to a document-centric framework and web page builder, there is truly a tool for each job.
However, not all tools are equal in scope or capability. Switching between IDE’s and editors can be time consuming and there’s a greater risk of inadvertently forgetting a step when switching tools during development cycles.
Zend Studio
Writing and debugging code in Zend Studio doesn’t demand any extra effort and time from developers. Most web developers opt for Zend Studio because of its optimal speed. While supporting PHP 7, it debugs PHP scripts by integrating X-ray, Xdebug, and Zend Debugger. This comprehensive PHP IDE comes with an exciting set of features and powered to deploy applications on various servers, including servers in the cloud. Developers can extend Zend Studio via Eclipse plugins.
Most websites are written in PHP version 7. Zend Studio is suitable for PHP 7 and is used by most developers for the same. The specialty of Zend Studio is that it has optimal speed. You can write and debug code using Zend Studio and Zend Debugger without spending any extra time.
It integrates X-ray, Xdebug, and Zend Debugger and debugs PHP scripts. It is a comprehensive PHP IDE, and it comes with an advanced set of features that are capable of deploying applications on various servers, including the ones in the cloud. In fact, developers also have an option to use Eclipse plugins and extend Zend Studio.
Some unique points of Zend Studio:
Zend Studio Features:
- Indexing and searching PHP Code.
- Faster Performance in the validation.
- Zend Framework & Zend_Tool Integration.
- Docker Support.
- Support for Eclipse Plugin.
Zend Studio Specialties:
- Languages supported: PHP, JavaScript, Visual Basic, C, C++, and C#.
- Platforms supported: Microsoft Windows, Linux, and MacOS.
Aptana Studio
Aptana Studio, an open source PHP development tool used in integration with various server-side and client-side web technologies. PHP, Python, CSS3, Ruby on Rails, Ruby and HTML5 are some of these technologies. It supports the debuggers and command line interface to make it easier for PHP app development. It allows PHP programmers to build as well as test web applications in one environment. It comes with SFTP, FTP, and IDE customization. This powerful web development engine leverages the flexibilities of Eclipse and comprises details about the range of support for each element in the leading web browsers. Aptana Studio is a high-performance PHP IDE and includes a wide range of attractive features to increase your productivity.
Aptana Studio features:
- Set breakpoints, control execution, inspect variables
- Supports latest HTML5 specifications
- Collaboration with peers via merge, pull & push actions
- IDE Customization
- Git Integration and Built-in terminal
Aptana Specialties:
- Languages supported: PHP, JavaScript, Ajax, HTML and Ruby on Rails
- Platforms supported: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and Plugin for Eclipse
- Visit: Aptana Studio
PHPStorm
PHPStorm is the most standard choice to other PHP development tools. With the nature of being lightweight, extremely fast and smooth, This PHP IDE works well with PHP frameworks like Zend Framework, Symfony, Yii, Laravel, CakePHP and with popular Content Management Systems (CMS) like Drupal, Magento, and WordPress. This IDE provides live editing support for major front-end technologies like CSS, HTML5, JavaScript, etc. while supporting for code refactoring, unit testing and debugging. Besides, it also empowers developers to integrate with databases, version control systems, remote deployment, composer, command line tools, rest client and many other tools.
PHPStorm Features:
- Code completion
- Code re-arranger
- Zero Configuration Debugging
- Native ZenCoding support
- Supports extension with plenty of useful plugins like VimEditor
PHPStorm Specialties:
- Languages supported: PHP, JavaScript, Visual Basic, C, C++, and C#
- Platforms supported: Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X
- Visit: PHPStorm
3. NuSphere PhpED
PhpED is a proprietary integrating PHP development tool offered by NuSphere. This PHP IDE comprises an advanced PHP editor, Profiler, PHP debugger, and database client & code insight. This utility provides the developers with several tools and tweaks that will make the whole web development process less cumbersome. With the help of the commercial PHP accelerator called PhpExpress, PhpEd speeds up the application development process. This IDE is an ideal option to develop complex websites and web applications. It supports JavaScript, HTML, and CSS3 while offering massive support for PHP 7.1. Its refactoring capabilities empower developers to improve their code. PhpED allows developers to work through most popular PHP frameworks like Laravel, Zend, and Yii.
PhpED features:
- Accelerate PHP apps with PhpExpress
- Support for composite file extensions
- Parallel Debugging
- Full integration with phpUnit
- Refactoring of PHP code
PhpED Specialties:
- Languages supported: PHP, HTML, XML, CSS, Perl, Python and JavaScript
- Platforms supported: Windows, Web, Mac, Linux, iPad
- Visit: PhpED
4. Netbeans
NetBeans, the most widely used PHP IDE for PHP application development. This tool comes with all the rich features, which supports multiple languages. NetBeans was initially used for Java development, but the current version of this tool is lightweight, faster as well as supportive for PHP development services. It includes the extension to support other programming languages like C, C++, and HTML5. It supports developing large-scale web apps and supports various languages like Japanese, Russian, English, Brazilian Portuguese, and simplified Chinese. This open source PHP development tool can work with almost all popular PHP frameworks, including Zend, Symfony 2, CakePHP, FuelPHP, Smarty and WordPress CMS. NetBeans PHP IDE offers various features specific to developing web applications with the recent versions of PHP.
NetBeans features:
- Code Formatting & folding
- Smart code completion
- Getter Setter generation
- Try/catch code completion
- Syntax Highlighter
NetBeans Specialties:
- Languages supported: PHP, JavaScript, C, C++, and HTML5
- Platforms supported: Windows, MacOS, Linux, and Solaris
- Visit: NetBeans
Cloud 9
Cloud9, an open source cloud IDE provides a development environment for hundreds of programming languages and PHP, C, C++, JavaScript, Python are the names a few. Developers can start coding immediately with pre-configured environments called workspace and build web applications with features like browser compatibility testing & live preview. They can collaborate with their colleagues using collaborative coding features. This PHP IDE enables you to take your PHP projects from anywhere. It offers a flawless experience for creating serverless apps, enabling you to define resources, execute serverless apps and debug at the remote. You can share your development environment with your peers and it enables you to pair program as well as track every real-time inputs. As Cloud9 ensures the effortless building of serverless application, you can just code with your browser.
Cloud9 Features:
- Real-time language Analysis
- Tabbed file Management
- Integrated Debugger
- Built-in image editor
- Code reformatting
Cloud9 Specialties:
- Languages supported: PHP, JavaScript, C, C++, and HTML5
- Platforms supported: Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and Solaris
- Visit: Cloud9
CodeLobster
Codelobster PHP IDE is an IDE created by Codeobster software firm. CodeLobster IDE from Codelobster software firm is the most popular one among the PHP development tools for the developer community. It supports most of the PHP frameworks like Symfony, Laravel, CodeIgniter, CakePHP, Magento, Joomla, and Drupal. CodeLobster IDE streamlines as well as simplifies the development process. There is no need to remember the names of the arguments, functions, attributes, and tags – it has implemented all these with autocomplete features for HTML, JavaScript, PHP, and CSS. With its internal PHP debugger, you can validate your code locally. In addition, this PHP tool automatically detects the setting of the current servers and configures related files to make you use the free debugger. It also supports major CMS like Drupal, WordPress, Magento, and Joomla.
The web developer community considers this it’s favorite among all the PHP development tools. You might have heard about PHP frameworks like Laravel, CodeIgniter (our PHP developers love this), CakePHP, Joomla, Drupal, and Symfony. Codelobster supports all these, and this is one of the contributing factors in its popularity.
The web development process can be complicated if it wasn’t for CodeLobster’s quality of simplifying and organizing it. Another thing that developers find useful is that it has implemented auto-complete features of tags for languages like JavaScript, HyperText Markup Language, Cascading Style Sheets, and the names of arguments, functions, and attributes. This means there is no fear of forgetting them.
The developers can also validate their code locally using its internal PHP debugger. Apart from all this, this tool also automatically detects the current settings of the server and configures the required files, making it easier for you to use the free debugger.
CodeLobster Feature
- Syntax highlighting
- SQL manager
- Code validator
- Autocompleting of keywords, DOM elements & their properties
- Function Parameters Display
CodeLobster Specialties:
- Languages supported: PHP, JavaScript, HTML and CSS
- Platforms supported: Windows, Fedora, Linux, Ubuntu, Debian, Mac OS, Mint
- Visit: CodeLobster
Sublime Text
Sublime Text is one of the leading text editors out there for PHP developers. However, it isn’t a quite IDE, with the installation of certain plugins/package; you can make it a suitable editor for developing PHP applications. This cross-platform source code editor natively supports several programming as well as markup languages. With its feature-rich functionalities and extraordinary designs, it makes the developer community consider the text editor as the best IDE for PHP development. Being leading customizable text editor with custom UI toolkit, it enables you to climb across the symbols, words or lines using appropriate key shortcuts. Moreover, you can make changes to any lines of your code.
Sublime Text Features
- Split editing
- Instant Project Switch
- Better command palette
- Distraction free mode
- Plugin API
Sublime Text Specialties:
- Languages supported: All popular languages
- Platforms supported: Windows, Mac OS and Linux
- Visit: Sublime Text
Conclusion
PHP is a server-side scripting language designed for web development but also used as a general-purpose programming language. Sometimes, when I look at my list of PHP tools, I find it very strange that everything on the list is a web application. This is because PHP is most often used for building dynamic websites.