[baxter111]

Which program would be the best to start writing in PHP?

I am using dreamweaver at the moment?

[girasquid]

You can write PHP in any text editor - whether that's emacs, vim, Dreamweaver, or notepad. It really doesn't matter.

[BetaWar]

I would suggest using Notepad++ (it is free). Basically it is just notepad, but it has all sorts of language syntax highlighting capabilities which makes it useful. I would stay away from dreamweaver (while I haven't used it with php it tends to add a lot of extra crap to HTML).

[josiahb]

I'd agree with Beta, I've been making extensive use of Notepad++ recently and with support for a large variety of languages, syntax highlighting etc its a really nice little free editor.

[Moonbat]

I suggest using phpDesigner 2008. It's a really cool PHP IDE (integrated development environment) and it comes with many useful features. Check out the link to find out more.

Sadly it's not free. If you have the cash or *ahem* know where to look, then the above program is IMO the best option.

Otherwise you should go with Notepad++, which is what I used to use before.

[Tom9729]

Real men use Emacs.

Using a real editor, you'll have to do more work. There will be no "wizards" to create things for you. Consequently, you'll actually learn HTML, and write better pages.

[Mike007]

I have to disagree with you all . One word man, Eclipse. It's free, it works, and it's great. It has support of phpDoc on top of all (well since it is written in java the platform I mean). And it is a platform, so you can use it to code in other languages. I can honostly say, it was a happy day when I found this little tool. Oh and of course you can debug step by step like a real man . Instead of looking for that tiny mistake with echos.

Notepad really :S.. didn't that like die long time ago? (don't get me wrong I do quick changes in notepad as well sometimes tho, but not a full project). How can you even stand it? When a module grows to 700+ lines, it is really a pain to find a function if you don't have a quick list of functions. Oh yeah and you can find stuff faster with just a few clicks to see some reference material.

This post has been edited by Mike007: 03 July 2008 - 02:48 PM

[Tom9729]

Mike007, on 3 Jul, 2008 - 05:47 PM, said:

I have to disagree with you all . One word man, Eclipse. It's free, it works, and it's great. It has support of phpDoc on top of all (well since it is written in java the platform I mean). And it is a platform, so you can use it to code in other languages. I can honostly say, it was a happy day when I found this little tool. Oh and of course you can debug step by step like a real man . Instead of looking for that tiny mistake with echos.

Notepad really :S.. didn't that like die long time ago? (don't get me wrong I do quick changes in notepad as well sometimes tho, but not a full project). How can you even stand it? When a module grows to 700+ lines, it is really a pain to find a function if you don't have a quick list of functions. Oh yeah and you can find stuff faster with just a few clicks to see some reference material.

Eclipse is great, it's just slow. Auto-completion in languages with HUGE standard libraries like Java is a big help. My only gripes with it are how much memory it eats, and how complex things can get while using it. I use Emacs and write my own buildscripts instead because it's just easier.

They're talking about Notepad++ btw, which shares no code with MS Notepad.

[Mike007]

Tom9729, on 3 Jul, 2008 - 03:52 PM, said:

Mike007, on 3 Jul, 2008 - 05:47 PM, said:

I have to disagree with you all . One word man, Eclipse. It's free, it works, and it's great. It has support of phpDoc on top of all (well since it is written in java the platform I mean). And it is a platform, so you can use it to code in other languages. I can honostly say, it was a happy day when I found this little tool. Oh and of course you can debug step by step like a real man . Instead of looking for that tiny mistake with echos.

Notepad really :S.. didn't that like die long time ago? (don't get me wrong I do quick changes in notepad as well sometimes tho, but not a full project). How can you even stand it? When a module grows to 700+ lines, it is really a pain to find a function if you don't have a quick list of functions. Oh yeah and you can find stuff faster with just a few clicks to see some reference material.

Eclipse is great, it's just slow. Auto-completion in languages with HUGE standard libraries like Java is a big help. My only gripes with it are how much memory it eats, and how complex things can get while using it. I use Emacs and write my own buildscripts instead because it's just easier.

They're talking about Notepad++ btw, which shares no code with MS Notepad.

True about the RAM it eats, but that's java for you. And I was manage to run it, dreamwaver and some browser windows open in the background while playing a video game (COD4 I believe). So if you are going big I would say it is the best choice. But you are right, it does get a bit complex sometimes, but it supports alot of stuff and has alot of plug-ins (which some of them are not free) that support stuff like XML, Javascript and so on. Hopefully tho, they will develop some better plugins for xml and javascript soon.

[BetaWar]

Quote

MS Notepad

Which is my personal favorite, but not what the question was asking. I don't know why, but I just find it easy to use compared to most other applications. At the moment though I am in the process of writing my own little syntax highlighter in python/wxpython (though that hit a little snag).
I just have a tendancy to remember where my functions/c;asses are positioned relatively in a file, so I can speed through it with ease. At this point my largest (in terms of lines) application written (not just with notepad) was around 1500+ lines. It worked well for that, though going through editing it later in a different program messed me up a bit.

I don't alwaysuse notepad for writing apps, I just like it best. When running a linux system I use whatever the default text editor is for it (which seems to include syntax highlighting); or if I am editing on the web I just use a textbox...

I still think that Notepad++ is a great tool, but want to create something of my own if I am going to use syntax highlighting a lot (thatway I get to learn more).

[no2pencil]

I prefer vi. Everywhere I go, there it is.

[chili5]

I use notepad++, I like how it has syntax coloring, macro support which I use to add a HTML template quickly and for repeated code and it has tabs which is very efficient

[Deomitrus]

I've recently tried editing code in "high contrast" aka, black background, lol. I like it a lot better than white backgrounds. So whatever editor you use, which Notepad++ is a strong favorite of mine, or Dreamweaver, or whatever else, try the high contrast stuff. It's pretty cool. Yep.

[c0mrade]

Google Komodo edit - I started using it recently for my dynamic web dev stuff, it's great.

It's lightweight enough to run fast and never get in your way - but has cool features like configurable syntax highlighting and great code completion.

For dynamic languages, I'll pick Komodo over Eclipse any day.

I use "Komodo Edit" which is a open source lightweight version of the Komodo IDE.

Edit: I'll be nice and even provide a link http://www.activesta...modo_edit.mhtml

This post has been edited by c0mrade: 06 July 2008 - 06:18 PM

[nitestryker]

baxter111, on 3 Jul, 2008 - 06:04 AM, said:

Which program would be the best to start writing in PHP?

I am using dreamweaver at the moment?

I like PHP Designer 2008 its like DreamWeaver but more suited for Writitng PHP http://www.mpsoftware.dk/downloads.php

you have to pay for 2008 but 2007 is free and its just as good!!


Features:

Syntax Highlighters


• Intelligent Highlighter that automatically switch between PHP, HTML, CSS, and Javascript depending on your position!
• PHP (both version 4 and 5 are supported)
• SQL (MySQL, MSSQL 2000, MSSQL 7, Ingres, Interbase 6, Oracle, Sybase)
• HTML/XHTML
• CSS (both version 1 and 2.1 are supported)
• Javascript
• VBScript
• Java
• C#
• Perl
• Python
• Ruby
• Smarty


Intelligent and Advanced Editing


• PHP code explorer shows all classes, extended classes, interfaces, properties, functions, constants and variables
• Intelligent code suggestions for PHP with full support for PHP 5.2, nested objects and object-oriented programming!
• Intelligent code suggestions for HTML/XHTML
• Intelligent code suggestions for CSS (both version 1 and 2.1 are supported)
• Intelligent code tip are displayed as you type, it shows you description, arguments and returning values for typed PHP functions including what version its available in!
• Highlight (un)matching brackets/tags
• Select or jump to matching brackets/tags
• Automatic indent or close brackets
• Jump to any declaration with filtering by classes, interfaces, functions, variables or constants
• Auto completions and corrections
• Bookmarks (1-9)
• Search and replace in multiple files with support for highlighting search results and regular expression
• Drag-n-drop text and files are supported
• Advanced printing options


Project and File Management


• PHP Code explorer shows all classes, extends, interfaces, properties, functions, constants and variables in the project
• Jump to any declaration in project files with filtering by classes, interfaces, functions, variables or constants
• PHP framework support
• Integration with 3rd party tools like Tortoise SVN or Tortoise CVS in the file and project browser


PHP


• Support for both PHP 4 and PHP 5
• Work with any PHP frameworks!
• Full support of object oriented (OO) programming in PHP5
• Support for PHP heredoc
• Enclose strings with single- or double quotes, linefeed, carriage return or tabs
• PHP server variables
• PHP statement templates (if, else, then, while…)
• PHP code beautifier with many configurations and profiles
• phpDocumentor wizard
• Add phpDocumentor documentation to functions and classes with one click!
• phpDocumentor tags
• Smarty tags
• Comment or uncomment with one click!




Debug with Xdebug


• Breakpoints
• Step by step debugging
• Step into
• Step over
• Run to cursor
• Run until return
• Call stack
• Watches
• Context variables
• Evaluate
• Profiling
• Multiple sessions
• Evaluation Tip


Run & Preview


• Run PHP using the PHP Interpreter
• Localhost Preview
• Preview with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, Opera and Safari


Syntax check


• Live syntax check for PHP, HTML and CSS
• Syntax check PHP using the PHP Interpreter




HTML/XHTML


• Support for HTML 4.01 strict/transitional/frameset
• Support for XHTML 1.0 strict/transitional/frameset
• Link-, image-, table-, list-, meta-, flash, forms-, font and color dialog
• Formatting tools
• Color picker
• HTML Tidy (code beutifier for HTML/XHTML)


Integrated Help


• Contextual help for PHP (detailed information about more than 3000 native PHP functions on the fly using the PHP manual)
• Contextual search (search engines)




Find/replace


• Find/replace selected text
• Find/replace in current document
• Find/replace in all opened documents
• Find/replace in all project files
• Find/replace in custom directories
• Mark results (in the gutter and highlights line)
• Support for wildcards and regular expression
• Search toolbar
• Save search history (find/replace)


Code Libraries


• PHP
• phpDocumentor
• Smarty
• SQL (MySQL, MSSQL 2000, MSSQL 7, Ingres, Interbase 6, Oracle, Sybase)
• HTML
• XML
• CSS
• Javascript
• VBScript
• Java
• C#
• Perl
• Python
• Ruby


Tools


• Application Manager
• Code Snippets
• Code templates allow you to type whole code fragments with one single click!
• Remote FTP editing
• Todo & Bug manager (embedded and external)
• Database connection manager
• Database browser (using phpMyAdmin)
• Date/Time Manager
• SSI
• TortoiseSVN integration
• Export to HTML, RTF and LaTeX


File Encoding


• ANSI (iso/windows)
• UTF-8 (with and without BOM)
• UTF 16 LE/BE (with and without BOM)


User Interface


• Fully customizable workspace with drag- and floatable toolbars/panels
• Theme support
• Save/load desktop layout
• Multi-language support