What PHP editor should I use ?

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What PHP editor should I use ?

What PHP editor should I use?

I now have NetBeans 6.8 (the PHP version) but it´s always freezing for a long time. I previously used version 6.7.1, but the auto scan feature rendered the editor useless for too long, like 10 min on each restart.

I used Eclipse as well but had the same experience as in Netbeans. Always freezing for a long time and very buggy specially if you install a lot of plugins.

I tried Vim for a short time with plugins, but I don't like the navigation and other parts of it even though it's fast and has some "autocomplete" and "go to declaration" features. I love SciTE and/or Notepad++. They are always super fast and never freeze but have no real "autocomplete" nor "go to declaration" feature.

Is there any middle ground? Like a SciTE/Notepad++ type editor that loads fast and is snappy and responsive and has a "autocomplete" and "go to declaration"?

PS. I know of the answers in http://stackoverflow.com/questions/503132/lightweight-auto-completing-php-editor

(Edit 19.11 2009 16:17 start)

Currently I am trying phpDesigner7 and Cream.

phpDesigner

Pros: Very good "autocomplete" and "go to declaration".

Cons: forgets that it has scanned my project and takes a long time to scan (I can use the editor though while it´s scanning, I can live with that.)

Cream

Pros: snappy Cons: I liked my Vim install with plugins somewhat and am having trouble seeing how this is any better. I can't see how I can install an "autocomplete" or "go to declaration" feature into this editor. (Edit 19.11 2009 16:17 end)

You could try UEStudio

nickf 2009-11-19 11:12:28

I have heard from a lot of people that Ultra Edit is great. But how can i get "autocomplete" and "go to declaration" support ?

Gonzui 2009-11-19 12:17:23

it's built in. If the page is PHP, when you start typing, it will suggest PHP function names, or names you've words you've typed previously in that file. When you complete a function name, eg: type `strpos(` it pops up with the parameter list. To turn on go-to-declaration, set up your files in a project, and turn on the CTAGs option. Then just have the cursor on a function or variable name and press F11

nickf 2009-11-19 13:22:15

Thanks a lot for taking the time to clerify how i can get "autocomplete" and "go to declaration" support. If there some support for SVN it sounds like something i could use. Even if it is a bit expensice (80$).

Gonzui 2009-11-19 16:25:48

It does have SVN and CVS support, though I've always found TortoiseSVN to be easier

nickf 2009-11-19 23:19:39

Love TortoiseSVN. It´s true i dont need SVN functionality inside UEStudio. I just realy like that you can see the lines that have changed in Netbeans and revert inside the editor (no need to go to a diff mode).

Gonzui 2009-11-20 09:24:05

+3 A:

Netbeans is freezing usually because it scans your projects and updates its autocompletion database. With a lot of projects and files this will take a time.

I've tested numerous of IDE's. I really liked Komodo and there is a free version, however the full version is very nice. Still, it's a shame that you cannot use your 'docked windows' on a different display. For this reason I've switched to phpDesigner. Currently it's my preference. There's good debugging support (just like Komodo; remote debugging is a very nice feature to have). It supports more than one display device. There's a lot to be tweaked. However, it's not free. The price is very reasonable though. For personal use it's about $39. Check it out: http://www.mpsoftware.dk/phpdesigner.php

TheGrandWazoo 2009-11-19 11:12:52

Thanks for the answer i will try phpdesigner.

Gonzui 2009-11-19 12:06:34

+1 for suggest Komodo.

DaNieL 2009-11-19 16:52:20

+3 A:

Vim. That is what you should use for everything. Edit: But since you're Windows, I don't know :o

TIMEX 2009-11-19 11:16:41

Well, Vim is available for Windows, and there's also a nice "easy to use Vim" called Cream. Highly recommended: http://cream.sourceforge.net/

Joonas Pulakka 2009-11-19 11:23:56

As i said in the question i tried VIM (for a short time) with plugins but i dont like the navigation and other parts of it. Vim is though very powerfull and if you are realy realy smart it might be the best edtior. Thanks for the cream link i will give that a try while phpDesigner is loading my project.

Gonzui 2009-11-19 12:12:10

@Gonzui: Don't have to be smart to use Vim. Just persistent :)

Svish 2010-01-29 07:56:30

When I was on windows I used PHPdesigner It's fairly light weight and includes code completion even for custom classes and functions. It's relatively cheap too.

RMcLeod 2009-11-19 11:19:13

Thanks for the answer i will try phpdesigner.

Gonzui 2009-11-19 12:15:49

+3 A:

Eclipse PDT. The best. Zend renounced it's own editor to pass to a Eclipse version. Aptana is based on Eclipse. It has everything you need and is free.

Elzo Valugi 2009-11-19 11:19:55

Eclipse PDT is great, when it works! Probably the IDE with the greatest amount of features. I loved the mylyn plugin and was very sorry for having to have to leave Eclips and that great plugin. But it had a very slow response when simply typing stuff. It frequently froze and was all around extremly buggy. I have my code on a network drive and Eclipse and Netbeans go into "auto scan mode" and then you can't use these programs.

Gonzui 2009-11-19 12:24:13

On Linux for me it works all the time. Try to update your Java platoform and uninstall all the stupid services if you are using Windows. Usually is the machine not the editor that you should blame.

Elzo Valugi 2009-11-19 16:39:11

so far my favourite is NuSphere ( http://shop.nusphere.com/customer/home.php?cat=9 ) it has a free trial so you can test before you buy,

the good :

it never freezed on me,

pretty fast search,

native integration with windows-shell svn support

has : comment / function / selection folding

the bad :

netbeans has nicer and more shortcuts

it's a bit pricey {standard is 119$ , but you can ask for discounts}

has some issues with camelCase when skipping words {ctrl+arrow keys}

Raz 2009-11-19 11:29:34

PHPEdit has always been one of my favourites, although it's not free anymore (90$). They've always been on the leading edge of features in my opinion. There's usually a free preview version available.

PHPDesigner is pretty good substitute and cheap ($40), and it's improving rapidly.

Fuu 2009-11-19 11:30:30

PHPEdit remains free for personal use, hobby websites, etc.

Andrew Heath 2009-11-20 05:22:34

I've been using Cream for all kinds of editing needs for a while now. It's Vim under the hood, but features "normal" key bindings and other UI details instead of those sick defaults of the standard Vi(m). And it's (not surprisingly) way snappier than any IDE out there.

Joonas Pulakka 2009-11-19 11:30:33

Eclipse with PHPEclipse

powtac 2009-11-19 11:33:40

+1 A:

Emacs. That is what you should use for everything :-)

But besides that :

LISTS OF PHP EDITORS

Peter 2009-11-19 11:47:44

Thanks for the lists. I know Google is your friend orhttp://justfuckinggoogleit.com/ but i have not found the gem i am looking for by using such lists.Most of the "unknown" editors that i have tried have less useful features than scite/notepad++ and are slower. And on a list like that are a lot of editors that have nothing at all to do with php. They are just lame text editors (usually with some basic html/css support to get on the list ).

Gonzui 2009-11-19 15:55:57

My favorite: Aptana studio with php plugin

Terw 2009-11-19 11:55:25

They've discontinued support for PHP

codeinthehole 2009-11-19 16:27:20

+3 A:

I use textmate, it's brilliant for PHP stuff.

dotty 2009-11-19 11:56:19

ZendStudio 5.5 this is golden mean! But I'm using NetBeans. P.S. Sorry for bad English!

Dzyanis Kuzmenka 2009-11-19 11:57:40

I did use ZendStudio for some time and i did not love it because it used a lot of resources (Java based) and just typing stuff is a lot slower than in Scite/Notepad++. It has a lot of nice features though. The version i used was much more stable than Netbeans and Eclipse. Zend "only" froze like once or twice a day compared to Netbeans/Eclipse that froze constantly.

Gonzui 2009-11-19 15:16:04

Easy Eclipse for PHP. Supports all kinds of features, including CVS and SVN. Has integrated debugging tools and integrated configurations for Apache, MySQL and other packages like XAMPP.

trip0d199 2009-11-19 12:20:17

I personally use Netbeans and I don't have a problem.

I'd check the settings that you have enabled, and make sure you don't have too many projects open at the same time (I believe that by default, Netbeans scans every open project for errors/todos/etc). If you like Netbeans (other than it freezing), I'd look at working out why it's freezing and try to fix that.

Blair McMillan 2009-11-19 12:28:13

Thanks for this answer. I would love to be able to fix the problem in the way you describe. The problem is i have spent a lot of time trying to do just that. That was the only reason i tried version 6.8 (You can at least start to work even though its scanning). I only have one (large 300,000 lines total) project on a network drive. It takes a huge amount of time to "auto scan" and if i turn of Netbeans (or it crashes) it completely forgets that it has scanned the entire collection and has to do it all over again.

Gonzui 2009-11-19 15:30:01

Ahh, yes. Scanning over the network does increase the time a lot. One option that might be available to you is to edit the filters to exclude certain folders etc. You could possibly do it on an "I'm working on this/these folders currently" basis. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, let me know and I'll post links/screenshots.

Blair McMillan 2009-11-19 23:39:01

The only way i have found to disable parts (all) of the scan is to use the plugin : http://wiki.netbeans.org/ScanOnDemand#section-ScanOnDemand-Installation. But i would realy like to know how to exclude certain folders.

Gonzui 2009-11-20 09:20:44

Ok, have a look at http://ocau.com/pix/oybtw (the picture goes top left->bottom left->right) make sure that your tasks panel is open, click on the little down arrow beside the filters, click edit, click keywords, click more, change to location, change to does not contain and enter the name of a folder you want excluded. To see if it actually helps at all, I'd try excluding everything. Eg. if you're working on \\server\web\path\to\files you could add 'web' (without quotes) to exclude all of that. If that helps, then you can try changing what gets excluded. Hope this makes sense, it's quite long

Blair McMillan 2009-11-20 11:36:14

I DID have the same problem. Installing NetBeans 6.9 fixed that for me.

Sebastián Grignoli 2010-08-12 07:03:47

+1 A:

I would vote for Nuspheres PHPEd. After trying all the free and paid ones, phped is the most stable one on windows xp. Its very responsive when compared to its java based competitors.

I went ahead and bought a professional license for PHP 5.9 at a big discount :)

Extremely happy.

Ibn Saeed 2010-01-29 07:38:52

I use free PHP/HTML/CSS/Javascript Editor - Codelobster PHP Edition

Stas 2010-08-12 06:40:11

PHP sucks. Editing won't improve anything.

On the other hand there are some disk wiping utilities that will make excellent PHP editors.

ThomasW 2010-08-12 06:55:31

I guess Java developers don't like IDE's written in PHP either, right?

Sebastián Grignoli 2010-08-12 07:00:43

ansaurus

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What PHP editor should I use ?

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